


Deep dark waters

by JameWii



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2020-01-23 22:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 65,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18559144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JameWii/pseuds/JameWii
Summary: After Red spent three years on MT. Silver, a trip to Pallet Town with Green changes everything for the both of them. Old problems resurface, enemies come back, and acquaintances reappear that Green had long forgotten about. And in all the chaos and stress, they rarely even have time to define their weird friendship, or whatever this thing is between them. All Red knows is that he owes Green a lot. And that he will do whatever it takes to make up for it when Green suddenly gets kidnapped.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love these two. Way way too much. So I had to write something about them! I have to give a little warning though! Most stories give warnings that their fanfics are gonna be dirty and sexual, but at this point, since I believe that that's what a lot of people want, I guess I rather have to give the warning that there WON'T be any dirty sexual things happening in here. Just cute cuddly fluff stuff at most :D Oh, and some violence probably. And another thing: in my head while playing the games, I have always aged Red and Green up. So in this story, they were sixteen years old when Red destroyed Team Rocket and became champion, and now we're about at the time where they visit the Alola region, so they're like 21/22 years old. Hope you enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> BY THE WAY (one last thing): can someone please tell me why everyone always says Green is such an unbearable brat? I just played Firered again for the first time in years and the guy was nothing but nice and pleasant all through the game, even gave me tips and items and stuff

Red had a hard time keeping a straight face after the nth time he saw Green's cocky smile crumble and his eyes grow wide, too shocked to even call his last defeated pokemon back into the ball. He felt a little disgusted with himself for feeling so superior and gleeful, especially after seeing the almost broken expression on his old rival's face. But gosh damnit! How many times had he approached Red already, grinning confidently and SWEARING he would "totally kick his ass this time", only to be defeated in under fifteen minutes? At this point, wasn't it Green's fault? He had to admit, he could get used to it, and slowly destroying Green's arrogant facade brick after brick would definitely be worth climbing down the snowy mountain. Other people (normal people) wondered about how many licks it took to get to a tootsie pop, but Red had been wondering how many battles it took to bring Green to tears. With that image in his head, Red _did_ grin, earning a death stare from Green.

But Green wouldn't be Green if he let any other emotion than his annoying cheerfulness show for more than two seconds, so his face soon got back into his pokerface, as Red called it. It was Green's go-to expression, and he wore it every second of the day, just like his oh-so-fashionable clothes. He could be angry, disappointed, sad, but all he dared to show to people was that superior grin, that "I'm better than you"-face, his "This just wasn't my day, I'm still better than you"- smile.  It made Red feel a little less psychopathic for wanting to see him cry. He was just...curious, he guessed. He had made it a game, a competition for himself. _I bet_ this _time I can do it._ This _time I can make him cry._

"Man, you're no fun!", Green exclaimed now. His voice was a little shaky, and Red didn't know if he was imagining things, but he could have sworn his eyes were glistening a little.  
He got excited for a second- _finally he had won his own little game-,_ but Green, that asshole, gained his composure back in a split second and actually managed to look like Red's victory didn't bother him in the slightest.  
_Goddamnit._ Red knew that Green was really determined to beat him for some reason, and he also knew that it kinda really bothered him to lose. He had no idea why, he just knew that pokemon battles between him and Green were the most vulnerable time for his rival. For some reason, that made Red feel special.  _He_ had managed to get into his head.  _He_ had managed to make Green insecure. And _he_ felt good about it. Sometimes Red wondered if he was an asshole.

"Anyway!", the auburn haired man continued, and Red couldn't help but think _"Typical. Bringing up something else to distract from his epic fail of a battle."  
_"I'm going back to Pallet Town. Gramps wants me there for some reason. No idea why though. The old man only calls me when he wants something from me, or to ask about _you."_

His voice still sounded casual to an amateur, but if you knew Green well enough to listen a little closer whenever he talked about his famous grandfather, professor Samuel Oak, you could hear an underlying bitterness. Red might be an asshole, but he wasn't that big of an asshole to take advantage of Green's grandpa-issues for his sick little game.

"You should come too," Green surprisingly said now. He hadn't tried to get Red off this mountain for like a year. "I don't know, it would get him off my back. You know how he is, criticizing everything I say and do. It's annoying."

 _And it hurts,_ Red added inside his head.

"And Daisy...I love her, but she still treats me like a child. She's all over me whenever I visit! And your mom misses you. She keeps asking me about you and all I can ever say is 'He's alive and he sends you greetings'. Do you know that you suck at being a son, Red?"

Ouch. That was a punch in the stomach, probably because it was true, and because he had been trying not to think about his mom ever since he came on MT. Silver. But he knew he couldn't talk to his mother without getting forcefully dragged down by his ear, so he had been procrastinating on it.  _Just one more day,_ he had been thinking, enjoying the quiet, the lack of press and cameras, the peaceful, snowy nature.

Red still had the day he decided to come here clear in his head. He had just come from some Talkshow, wordlessly grabbed his things, and off he went, escaping his old life. Escaping, that was all he had been doing ever since he won the title of the Champion. Just a few days prior he had been escaping from clingy fangirls with uncomfortably revealing clothes, rubbing themselves all over him. He actually wondered if this counted as sexual harrassment, but the even more uncomfortable thing was that these girls had been twelve years old. _Twelve._ He still shuddered at the thought and regretted today's youth. Then he'd come home to Pallet Town, small, peaceful Pallet Town... and had seen the camera team in front of his home, with his mom trying to chase them away with a broom. Not just one day, _every_ day. Other times, the way trusted family members and friends had looked at him suddenly changed. Affection had turned into greed.  _How can I get something out of him?_ Dating was impossible. The guys he went out with knew him as Red, the champion, not as Red, the boy from Pallet Town. They were infatuated with the title. Not with the human. In restaurants they usually ordered the most expensive meal on the menue and expected him to pay.

Red had to admit, he had enjoyed the attention at first. Hey, he had been a sixteen year old boy. Of course he had wanted to be famous. He had neglected everything that was important for him. His mother, his pokemon, battling, training, he had even ignored Green whenever he came by, and stopped responding to his calls and texts. He had been introduced to his absolute heroes- actors, big trainers, champions from other regions. But all he got from that was how many first world problems the privileged society members had and complained about every day, and how much unhealthy and uneccessary pressure they put on themselves to look good. Soon he realized that his heroes weren't the strong, admirable trainers he had looked up to- they were superficial, whiny and selfish.  And as the days passed, he started wondering who was even real and who was fake, and what he had gained from being the Champion. It had been his biggest life goal, and now, at only sixteen years old, he had achieved it. What now? What had changed? How had it benefited him or the world? He was still the same person as before, just more materialistic, and a lot more bored. The people around him were still people, just a lot greedier and a lot more dishonest. Homeless people were still homeless. Hungry people were still hungry. Every day became the same; flashy cameras taking his eye sight until he finally escaped them, news articles about things he had supposedly said appearing at his door step every day, fans approaching him and asking him for autographs. And with every day, he felt more and more miserable. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, or what his purpose was.

To avoid fake press, he talked less and less, which got him even more hate in news articles, calling him rude and reminding him that he would be nothing without his fans. Getting out of bed in the morning became a struggle. He felt guilty about not paying attention to the hopeful people who looked up to him the way he used to look up to the actors and famous trainers, and he wondered if these people would be just as disappointed if they got to know him as he was when he met his heroes. Not disappointing anyone became his obsession, but then, he couldn't help but disappoint people because they all had different expectations. Some wanted him to stop and take photos, and when he did, others gave him this look that said _You aren't that special, get off your high horse_. He wondered how the other champions dealt with all of this, but then he remembered that other champions weren't as famous as he was. Mainly because he was the youngest, and because he had, on top of that, defeated an entire crime organisation himself. One day, the day he officially resigned, he woke up to eggs being thrown at his window. When he looked out, he saw a bunch of protestors, yelling into the cameras: "There's people, actual heroes, who save other peoples' lives! Police officers, firefighters, Nurse Joys. And we're paying all our attention to some idiot who managed to knock out the Pokemon of some other idiots. Bravo!"

Then he had spotted Green, and it was only the second time he had legit seen him furious, shouting at and arguing with the angry mob, only to be shoved away and insulted. He was the only person who had defended Red, and he remembered that he had never thanked him for that.

While the protestors were mostly sneered at because as a society, everyone mostly agreed that trainers actually _were_ honorable and absolutely necessary for various reasons, hating on Red, the Champion, became mainstream. More and more people joined the "Anti-Red"-crowd. And even though everyone seemed to have forgotten that he had defeated Team Rocket and saved millions of Pokemon and people, it hit him because they were right; right now, he wasn't doing anything useful; he was just laying around, enjoying his privileges and the fame. What really was his purpose? Why did he of all people deserve to be famous? He felt bad, felt ashamed for being in the spotlight for so long, while other people suffered alone, or did heroic stuff without being celebrated for it. That's when he started giving his money away to homeless people, and immediately the headlines in the news papers read "Champion Red tries to save his reputation by feeding the homeless", which got him even more hate because he "used homeless people for his reputation". He tried to go on a popular talkshow that had tried to invite him for months, so he could make himself seem likable and make it clear that he didn't care about the fame, but the moderator just asked him about his love life . When Red finally did get to say what he wanted to say, the moderator of the show frowned, leaned forward with a stony expression and asked "So what you're saying is, you hate that you are loved too much? Don't you think that's a huge luxury problem, and, I'm sorry for being frank...pretty ungrateful?". The audience started clapping and hooting, and Red was so taken aback that he stopped talking altogether. He stared at the moderator for a good five  minutes with a blank expression on his face, even after the audience calmed down again, then he calmly, casually got up from his seat and silently left, ignoring the murmurs of the people in the room. That was the last time the public eye had ever seen Red, the legendary trainer, the young boy from Pallet who had been broken by fame, and who spent the entirety of the next three years on a snowy mountain to meditate and think about his right to exist, his reason to exist, and how broken a world was that paid more attention to his love life than people like Demitri, an old homeless man he met who came back from war severely wounded only to find out that his wife had moved on and found a new man and his young kids didn't know him anymore.

He trained every day, and his pokemon kept getting stronger. The days repeated themselves, and the only question that occupied his mind when he saw his pokemon grow and fight was "What for? What for? What for? What for?"  
And yet he continued. Because it was...fun. It was who he was. But...why?

Then, one year later, it was Green who found him here, and this was the third time in his life Red had seen him angry. Oh god, had he been angry! He had shouted at Red, grabbed his shoulders and shook him, because how _dare_ he just leave everyone without a word, and did he even _realize_ how hurt and worried his mother was, and did he _know_ that the police had been searching for him? He had even brought a news article with the headline "Champion Red stays missing", and at the sight of the hated gossip magazine, Red had wordlessly crumpled the piece of paper up, threw it in Green's face and silently gestured for him to leave with an icy stare. To Green's credit, he left immediately, still with death in his eyes, but he respected it. "Wait till your mother hears about this!", he whined before climbing on the back of his Charizard and flying away. He came back the next day, calmer this time, asking Red why he left. And after he realized that Red wouldn't talk, he left and came back the next day too. And the day after that. And Red didn't complain. Neither outwardly, not inwardly. In fact, he had been relieved when Green had started visiting him after a year of loneliness. Green always brought food from Red's mom, sometimes warm clothes, and items for his pokemon. And then he filled the silence with words- SO many words- and kept Red's mind busy and distracted. While Green talked, Red always wondered how someone could produce so many words without ever running out of them. After every story of Green, Red thought that had to be it, but there was rarely an end. Green talked about every little thing he experienced every day, and somehow he managed to make it sound interesting, despite the fact that he was talking about himself most of the time.

Those meetings mostly ended with the words "Greetings from your mom, by the way! She wants you back!", and Red wondered if it was really just his mom who wanted him back, or if there was more behind this statement, something that Green didn't want to say out loud because of his stupid pride, so he hid it behind an implication. 

After one year of this routine, Green had started challenging Red to battles again. He was the Gym leader of Veridian City now, and he swore he had trained, and this time he would defeat Red. He didn't, of course. Then battling became a routine. Green was a strong and talented opponent- he had always been-, Red had to give him that, and his Pokemon trusted him without any question. These battles became fun, and after he had made up his sadistic little "How can I make Green cry"-game, it became even more fun. It distracted him from all these other thoughts, and finally he had fun again, and felt like he had found his purpose. He was a trainer. Nothing more, nothing less. His title as a champion suddenly meant nothing anymore. There was only him, his pokemon, and Green, and he was eternally grateful for this cocky little jerk who had made his pokemon journey hell on earth.

Soon he realized why he had allowed Green to come up here, and why he would have chased everyone else away: not just because he wanted to beat his ego up and watch his expression falter, but because Green had never treated him different than before his champion title, and he had to write it on the list of things to thank Green for.

Not now though, because now he was looking at that stupid, frustrating smile and heard that stupid, frustrating laugh. "Did I struck a nerve?"

_Yes, yes you did._

"Well, that's your fault, isn't it? No one _told_ you to come up here, and your mom _is_ worried. I've been trying to be a good substitute-son, but for some reason, she prefers the original. You know, the one who hasn't called or even written her a letter in THREE FUCKING YEARS, or said goodbye to her."

The guilt came back again, even though he knew Green did this on purpose to get him to finally climb down. This time, he might actually succeed.

But he didn't want to give Green that victory.  _He_ wanted to destroy  _him,_ and the tables weren't supposed to turn. How did that jerkface always manage to get the upperhand even after he already lost?  Only Green. Only Green who would visit him on this snowy nightmare mountain every day for three years just to talk to him. Only Green who was always the winner, even if he was the loser. Only Green who would look good in these _ridiculous_ green capri pants and the black button up shirt.

Red crossed his arms in front of his chest, pointedly looking away from Green with his head up and turning his back to him. A clear _No._

Green sighed, exasperated. It made Red's ear twitch, and he turned his head slightly. Exasperated Green was new. When he saw the face of his old rival, he was even more surprised, because the smug demeanor had disappeared, and for the first time since he lost to Red in the Pokemon league, he truly looked defeated. "Look, Red...it's true that everyone misses you, and...as much fun it was to visit you up here every day, I can't do this much longer."

Worry pressed Red's lungs into a vice, and he completely turned to Green now, looking for any signs of illness in his features, but that's when Green started chuckling. It sounded sad. "No, I'm fine, don't worry."

Relieved, Red breathed out the air he didn't know he was holding, fully turned around and waited for Green to continue.

When he did, his voice sounded wistful. "It's just...I'm getting bored, ya know? Kanto's great and all, but I know every little corner of it now. And being a Gym leader, man... you'd think there would be good challengers, but trainers aren't what they used to be. I already leveled my pokemon down as much as possible so it could be a fair fight, but...goddamnit, Red, they try to use stun spore when my pokemon are already paralyzed! They use Growl a thousand times to get down my pokemons' attack stats, and then they use howler so I have to exchange my pokemon! Who does that, Red? It's so...boring! I almost don't mind losing against you anymore!"

Red made a mental note that he had to find new ways to somehow make Green cry. What? He already admitted he was an asshole.

"I wanna go somewhere else. Travel again. See the world. Maybe start new all over again, with new pokemon in a new region. I don't know. I miss the adventure, and other regions should get the chance to meet the awesomeness that is me too. I've been selfish, keeping it all here in Kanto. But. I guess I'm worried about you. No, really. I don't want you to rot here. Let's be honest, I'm the only person you have left. If I'm gone, no one will bring you food or clothes anymore, and no one will tell your mom you're fine. The choice is your's, but it would be cool if you came with me, at least to Pallet. Seriously. I can't handle my family without a distraction, and you'd be perfect."

Then Green gave his Charizard a revive, hopped on his back and off he went with a "Anyway, smell ya later!", leaving Red fuming because that asshole had made him seriously think about going back to the hellhole of cameras after he had finally found something like peace.


	2. Chapter 2

Green didn't come to visit the next day. Or the day after. Red knew that this was part of the ploy- _see if you can even make it through two days without me, Red-_ , but goddamnit, it worked. He had been up here for three years, and one year he had been completely alone, all by himself. Now, after just two days of complete isolation with even Green not visiting him, he didn't know how the hell he had managed to get by back then.

Maybe it was because during the first year, he had been completely oversaturated with human interaction and he just needed to get being all by himself out of his system. After that, he remembered, he had actually felt a little sting of loneliness, until Green found him. Of course Green hadn't come to visit him every single day. One time, a whole week had went by where Green didn't come up here. But that had been okay because at least Red had _known_ that he'd be back eventually. Now however, he realized that he had taken the visits of his old rival for granted, and that they wouldn't last forever.

Would he be able to go back to isolation again, knowing that Green was far, far away, discovering the world? Knowing, that no one told his mom he was fine?  
And then he thought about the times he traveled through Kanto. Discovering towns and cities that he had only ever seen on pictures online, finding all kinds of new pokémon, completing the pokédex... he did miss that.  
Traveling, training and battling was his purpose, after all. But then again, during his visits, Green had told him that all of Kanto and possibly even the other regions were still all over the story of the silent Champion who had just disappeared. The news covered this almost every evening. Naturally, there were also several youtube videos with millions of views that showed how he had just wordlessly left the talkshow, and the comments underneath these videos were all very recent.

Countless youtubers had uploaded their conspiracy theories about the situation. According to them, he was controlled by Team Rocket, or the illuminati, and he left before he could say too much. Or he got kidnapped after the show.  
The most popular theory that a guy called Dane Shawson had posted was that he was a robot made by the government, who just didn't know much about human interaction and had a short circuit during the show, and he had taken the clips where he awkwardly stuttered into the camera or behaved a little weird as proof. Also that one embarrassing clip where he had been deep in his thoughts, accidentally knocked a glass of cold water over his lap and jumped up and yelped as if something had just bitten him (a video that also had millions of views. Yep, people couldn't get enough of him).

If Red got down this mountain, he would have to face the media and give answers. He got anxiety at the thought of twelve year old fangirls rubbing themselves over him again (which would be even creepier now that he was twenty years old) and people shoving cameras in his face. And his mom... he was dying to see her, but he was also terrified of her reaction. She was his mother, she would be happy to see him of course, but he would also have to answer why he had done what he had done, why he had never called her, and how he could square the fact that he just left her in her worry and loneliness with his conscience. And the truth was, he didn't have an answer. He had just needed to get out. The pressure of satisfying everyone and living up to his title as the undefeated, very best trainer ever had just become so much that he had went partly insane for a little while, so the one time he didn't think about other peoples' feelings, he had deeply hurt the people he cared about most.  Was it worth it? He knew he  _did_ have to face her and everyone else eventually. 

And also, was staying up here forever all alone worth it? Wasn't a little media attention better than dying on a snowy mountain with absolutely no one to keep him company?  
And besides, it had been _three years._ Sure, at first, the paparazzi would be all over him, but soon enough, the people would get tired of him and focus their attention on something more exciting.

Talking about Red, the silent Champion who just disappeared, wouldn't be as interesting anymore if he became Red, the talking ex-Champion who had safely returned.  
  
All these thoughts came to him on the second day he was alone, hoping Green would come back on the third. But he didn't. The days were longer than he remembered with nothing to do. He trained his pokémon, but even that wasn't as exciting alone. He had to admit, he missed Green filling the silence with his words. The auburn haired man had a way of making introverts like him feel comfortable; he gave him space and opportunities to just zone out, but he also gave him the feeling that he wasn't alone. He never felt like Green expected any reactions from him, he just...talked. Would he be able to make it through eternity without hearing Green blabber about unimportant nonsense ever again? 

And as he just thought the day was finally over, looked at his watch and realized it was only 2 PM, Red made his decision. He looked at Pikachu, who seemed to notice the change of mind in his trainer. He looked up at Red, trusting, black eyes meeting undecided brown ones.

And then, Pikachu nodded, and Red smiled.

He waited until it was dark, then he called out Charizard, who stretched and yawned and gave Red a frustrated look.

"Buddy," Red said with a rough voice he hadn't used in years and gave him a pat on the long neck. "We're going home."

* * *

_Beep._

Green's phone announced a new message for about the millionth time.

Every time he hoped it was Red, but it was yet again just his grandpa, writing him countless texts. It was 2 AM, so Oak was  _really_ impatient. 

Green opened the message with casual interest.  
  
"Green. I already told you to come here three days ago and you haven't even answered me yet. I expect you to be in my lab by 10 Am TOMORROW."

Green rolled his eyes and shut his phone off. The Great Professor Oak always said "Jump" and expected Green to ask "How high?", but he was growing tired of it.

If his grandfather so urgently needed him, he would go there eventually, but he would do it on his own terms. The old man needed to realize that his life didn't revolve around him and his dreams.  
  
Green sighed, propping his head up on his hands while he looked into the darkness outside his window. The cool air stroked his face. He tried not to focus on the fact that he was despereately hoping to see the flame of a Charizard in the sky. How pathetic was that! Sometimes he was scared that he was following the example of everyone else when it came to perceiving himself. To the people, he was either "Green, the grandson of the famous Samuel Oak", or "Green, the friend of the famous Champion Red". And here he was, barely even feeling like he existed anymore without having Red around. Was his self esteem really that low? Did he really define himself as "Red and Green" too?

His analytical mind had tried to find the source of this, had tried to reach every corner of his brain to figure out why he felt like he was nothing when Red wasn't here. Maybe it was because the only time people approached him was to ask him about Red. Maybe it was because his grandfather barely even looked up anymore when he visited him in his lab because he knew he didn't have Red with him. Maybe it was because even Red's mom, Delia, who had always treated him like her own son, had suddenly grown distant after her actual son wasn't here anymore.

He had visited her every day and told her about Red, and while he did, her eyes were curious and alert. But after he finished his report, she always looked away warily and said "Thank you, Green" with a tired voice.

The first time this happened, he hadn't recognized the silent "Please leave now" behind these words, so he had cheerfully started blabbering about unimportant stuff again without really realizing it, like he always did. Back in the day, when everything was still okay, she had looked at him with fond amusement whenever he did this, because this was just what he did. He _talked._ When he talked, he didn't have to think. Sometimes, he truly didn't notice just how much he was talking; he just did it. Talking was almost like breathing at this point.

But on this particular day, she suddenly snapped, with tears in her eyes: "For god's sake, Green, can you stop talking for _one second?_ I don't care that you caught a new kind of pokémon! I don't care that you won another battle! And for the love of god, stop acting like you're my son! You're not! If you want to do something useful, bring me my _real_ son back! You _know_ where he is, why aren't you _doing_ anything?"

He flinched so violently that you would think she just physically attacked him, and she might aswell have. Delia had never talked to him like this. She had been the closest thing he had ever had to a parental figure; on mother's day, he made her cards, and when she went on vacation with Red, she always took him and Daisy with her. She had given him kisses on his cheek and fawned over him every time he visited Pallet Town, asking him if he was eating right and if he was taking care of himself, and on his birthdays, she had baked him his favourite cake and bought him presents. And now, while she snapped at him, she looked at him like she was sick of him. Just like everyone else. After Red was gone, magically, everyone had lost interest in Green.

He could see the regret immediately after she said it, and she quickly added: "I mean... it's really a lot to handle right now. I need time for myself, okay, sweetie?"

The way she called him "sweetie" made him feel the warmth come back to his chest and calmed him down. He knew he was grasping for straws and soaking up every bit of affection he could get, and he was absolutely sure that it was unhealthy, but what could he do?

_You're fine. She still loves you, it's okay._

He grinned at Delia and shrugged, putting on his mask again. "Tsk, it's okay! I have better things to do anyway!"

"Green...", Delia had said with a sad expression on her face. She knew him better than anyone else, and she was sure that she had just added another brand new scar to the already impressive collection in his broken soul. His smug demeanor was nothing but an attempt to deny reality, and to not show anyone including himself just _how_ broken he felt inside. She hated herself for contributing to his unhealthy mindset.

"I'll visit him again tomorrow," Green said as if nothing had happened. "See you then!"

"Green," Delia said again, and he turned around with his usual smile and just said "Yeah?"

She sighed. "I love you, okay? Please forget what I just said, I didn't mean it. I'm just really, really stressed right now. Please understand, Red is missing and I...I think I'm going insane with worry. I'm very grateful that you come here every day and tell me how he is. When you have children, you'll understand."

"Of course!", Green said, chipper as ever, and set off to Veridian City, still wearing his mask and whistling on the whole way back. From then on, things had become weird between him and Delia.  
He was careful not to say the wrong things or to talk too much, didn't want to lose her precious affection. So he left whenever he heard her tired "Thank you, Green", and came back the next day, hoping to find her in a better mood.

Green sighed again, trying not to think about Delia or his grandfather, and especially not about Red, the golden boy who was evidently better than Green in every way. 

He was tired of waiting and brooding. Tomorrow he would leave for Oak's lab, and after that, he would leave, period. Red could go to hell if he was that stubborn.

And the best thing about all of this was that disappearing wouldn't even be a selfish action; once Red came back, everyone would forget about Green. No one would silently sit at the kitchen table, wondering when and if he would come back and waiting for someone to bring news about him. No one would snap "Goddamnit, can you stop talking? You're not my kid! Green is my kid!"

Maybe they'd be sad for a week or so, but after that, life would go on for everyone. And while they would all be fawning over Red, he, Green, would train and become the actual most powerful trainer in the world. He would defeat every Elite 4 in existance, would fill up the pokédex with data of pokémon from all over the world, and eventually, he would beat Red, and everyone would finally start realizing how talented he was.

But then again, there was that one thought that was stronger than any other: _You'd have to do this without Red._

And that thought stung. He hated how everyone preferred Red over him, but he didn't hate Red. Red, his only friend in the world.  
That's when tears welled up in Green's eyes and he buried his head in his arms as he did so often when he sat here, alone in his little one room apartment. His only friend. He really was pathetic.

* * *

Charizard knew exactly where to go. The giant dragon was visibly excited about finally leaving MT. Silver, doing loopings and teasing Red by almost throwing him off his back.

But Red wasn't scared; he trusted charizard, and he truly felt alive for the first time in four years. He had been hesitant at first, but now, leaving this god forsaken place was the only thing in his mind. The adrenaline at the hands of his rushed decision did the rest. He was Red. The most powerful trainer in Kanto. Hell, in the _world_ even. He wouldn't bow in front of the media. To hell with the paparazzi! He would just go with Green, leave Kanto, travel the world and see and discover new places and pokémon. He would leave the people here behind with their witchhunt mentality, he'd compete with Green again, he'd absolutely destroy him in battles, and maybe he would finally get to break down one or two of the protective walls his old rival had built up around him. The thought of it all made his legs twitch with excitement, and as charizard did another looping, Red let out a loud "WHOHOOOOO!", which was accompanied by a happy growl of Charizard and his pikachu excitedly yelling "PIKA PII!"

They were about to conquer the world, and nothing could stop them. Red's heart was beating with excitement, and he felt insane as he started laughing like a little child on the playground, but also, he really didn't care.   
He couldn't wait to see Green's stupid face.

The same scenarios repeated themselves over and over in his head. How he'd surprise Green on his way to Pallet Town by letting pikachu give him a little shock. How he'd throw eggs at his window to wake him up.  
How he'd dress up as a Team Rocket member and scare him.

At this point, he did wonder if he should get his brain checked out, but come on, scaring Green, that cocky jerk with the giant ego, _was_ fun.

When he saw the first lights of Veridian City, Green's home, his grin grew wider. He hadn't ever visited Green here, after all, he had moved out from home while Red was on MT. Silver, but he had told him his adress once, and Red could only guess that it was near the gym.

_Leafstreet 16, 4th floor._

Red had to fly low to see the street signs, and he was glad that it was so late already. No one was out on the street in this little backwater, and all the lights were already out. All but one.

"Charizard, fly a little bit lower", Red said quietly. He saw a sign. Leafstreet.

 _"Nice",_ he quietly cheered, and Charizard followed the street until they came to the house where the light was still on. Green was the biggest workaholic Red had ever seen, so he was absolutely sure that this was his house. And sure enough, the house number was 16, and the light on the fourth floor was on.

Red spontaniously decided to scare Green by having Charizard suddenly appear by his window and spit out a flame, and he grinned at the thought. But when he reached the window and saw Green inside, he let go of that idea immediately. A weird emotion came up in him. Green was sitting at his desk directly in front of the window, his face buried in his arms, and seemingly fast asleep. His desk was a mess, and four giant books were scattered over the floor. They looked like they had been thrown there. The rest of the room didn't look better. Piles of laundry were all over the ground, the bed was so full of items and objects that Red had to wonder when was the last time his rival had used it.

As calm and collected as Green was on the outside, as messy was his home. Green really was an incurable workaholic. He had more in common with his grandfather than he knew.

Red stared at him for a while, trying to identify the emotion that had welled up inside of him, then he decided to not wake him. But he definitely would get a reaction out of Green tomorrow, of that, he was sure.

He climbed on Charizard's neck and let himself and Pikachu into the room before calling the huge dragon back into the ball. As he looked around, he noticed that the only part of the tiny apartment that was clean was the kitchen.

He flinched as Green sighed and shifted a little in his sleep, his legs twitching every now and then as if he was running away from something even in his dreams.  
  
"Wow, he really has been letting himself go, huh?", he whispered to Pikachu, and it answered with a sad "Pika."

He hadn't even noticed any changes in Green whenever he visited him. He had always seemed so happy and excited and cocky and superior. The only negative emotion he ever showed was annoyance or anger, nothing else, and Red was a bit disappointed that after they had been knowing each other for like eighteen years now, Green still only ever showed him that side of him. The happy, mean, smug side that always wanted to tear him down. Just once, he wanted to get into Green's head and see if he was really that much of a robot, or if he actually had feelings. He had to! Red had seen it after defeating him at the Indigo Plateau. Green had looked devastated, and after his grandfather had basically yelled at him (which, by the way, had been aired on live television with millions of people watching and cheering), he had looked broken. Literally broken. It had become a meme online, so in a way, Green  _was_ famous now, but he had become a laughing stock for it, which had just made the walls around him thicker and stronger. Red had seen the sadness once, and never again. After his defeat, Green had become even more obnoxious and cocky.

Red sighed and bent down to pick one of the heavy looking books up- an encyclopedia about pokemon and battling- when suddenly he heard a loud aggressive growl and felt a sharp pain on his arm. _Should've seen this coming,_ Red thought grimly. Biting into his arm was an Evee; small, but determined not to let go. It hurt like hell, but he showed no reaction as he raised his arm to be at eye level with the little cat like pokémon.

"Hey, buddy. I missed you too."

The response was an angry growl. Worriedly, Red looked at the desk, and as he had feared, he now looked into confused green eyes, wide awake and startled.

 _Not the kind of reaction I've been aiming for, but still something,_ Red thought. It didn't feel satisfying though; if Green worked nearly as much as it seemed, he desperately needed sleep, and as much as Red loved teasing him, he didn't want to fuck with his apparently already bad health.

One positive thing was that the disheveled, sleepy look really suited Green. _Pretty cute,_ Red had to admit while bracing himself for whatever was to come now.

He could see the excitement in Green's eyes, but only for a second.

"How the hell did you get in here?", he nagged. "I have a _door bell,_ you know."

Red shrugged, ignoring the trails of blood starting to run down his arm because Evee _still_ hadn't let go, and Green _still_ hadn't told her to. "I didn't want to wake you."

"Good job, doofus," Green said, then he took his sweet time yawning and stretching (exposing his flat stomach for seconds Red would have enjoyed if his arm didn't feel like it was getting stabbed right now) before finally and casually telling Evee to stop biting him.

Reluctantly, the tiny pokémon let go and shot him and Pikachu one last deadly look. Evee, like her trainer, had never really gotten over the rivalry between Green and Red, despite Pikachu's attempts to make friends with her.  
  
"You shouldn't leave your window open," Red said while inspecting the bite marks on his arm.

Green just blankly looked at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, how inconsiderate of _me_ to leave _my_ window open. I understand that it makes it incredibly hard for freaks like you to resist breaking in."

Red shrugged. "Just worrying about your safety. You're not exactly a Nobody around here."

"It's okay," Green said. "Evee just showed you what we do with creeps."

"Touché."

They awkwardly stared at each other for a few seconds. They weren't on top of MT. Silver anymore, and Green didn't have to fill the silence with words unlike the times Red had been silent all the time. They both had so much to say, and yet both of them were speechless, which was a memorable moment because Red had never seen Green speechless before.

Apparently that happened when he was surprised. Red wondered if Green had to mentally prepare himself every time he was about to bend someone's ears.

It was amazing what a changed environment could do to people. Red knew he wasn't even supposed to be in here, and Green hadn't expected Red to suddenly stand in his bedroom at 3 AM, which made it extra weird.

"I like your voice," Green said now. "Haven't heard it in a while."

Red shrugged again. He felt stupid for doing that because surely it was already the third time in a time span of like two minutes. "Was about time, you know..."

Green nodded, but didn't really look at Red, and the silence that followed made Red regret coming here. This was not how he had imagined it all to go down.

Why was talking to Green so awkward all of a sudden? Was there an MT. Silver Green and an MT. Silver Red who lived in some alternate dimension and had to start from zero again now after being back in town?  
Maybe it was because Green didn't know how to assess Red now? The circumstances were definitely different, and the power dynamic between the two had clearly changed aswell. Back on MT. Silver, Green had had all the power; he could leave forever if he wanted, or he could come back and keep Red company. But down here, it was Red who was likely to disappear again, being sucked back into the show business and forgetting about Green. Green didn't know his intentions, and how things would go on from now, and what role he played in Red's life now. As Red realized that, he remembered how he had started ignoring him at a certain point because meeting other famous people had been a priority, and he also remembered how Green had still called him and defended him. He wanted to slap himself.

He breathed out, not realizing he had been holding his breath in the first place. "I'm sorry," he blurted out, which made Green frown.

"Although I do believe you have a long list of reasons to apologize for, you need to be more specific, Red."

"For being an ass," Red admitted. "I...kind of lost touch with you after I became...I don't want to say famous...but yeah, that's what happened."

"I know. You owe me," Green said, half joking.

Red was relieved to see the mischievous glint back in his old rival's face. He felt his tense muscles relaxing, but was still unsure of how it would go on now.

"I could tidy up that bed of your's. The desk doesn't look like an appealing sleeping place to be honest."

"Well, if you had _announced_ yourself like normal people do, I would have had time to tidy up the whole room, but _no..."_

"What is all of this, Green?", Red asked while looking around. "This..is where you live?"

"Well, gee, sorry you don't like it. Didn't feel like putting _live, laugh, love_ tattoos and flower pictures on my wall. Not my style."

"It's just not what I expected. This apartment _so_ isn't you."

"Then what kind of apartment would so be me?"

"A big one", Red said and was surprised at how fast the answer came. "To fit your entire ego in there, and the huge hand gestures you always make when you talk."

Green made a "Tsk" sound, and Red continued. "And I thought it would be tidier, being that you're such a perfectionist control freak. And, I don't know, it looks so...bland. Come on, Green, you're fruitier than me and I'm openly gay."

"I'll be sure to call the 'Home improvement' team to cover an episode with your decor tips. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear your ideas."

"Seriously though, what's up with this?"

Now it was Green's turn to shrug. "I'm rarely here to be honest. This is just my sleeping place."

"Well, your only piece of furniture that facilitates sleep is currently unaccessible, so..."

 _"Hey,_ you just came back after three years without ever calling or asking about anyone, you have no right to be snooping around my business!", Green said in that naggy tone of his that indicated he was trying not to sound too harsh.  
  
Red raised his hands in defense and said "Well, _sorry"_ , which made Green grin.

"Well, if it's that important to you: you just got here at the wrong time. I usually do use my bed. Not just for sleep, obviously, I mean, look at me."

Red smiled and rolled his eyes, but in his head, he had to admit that Green had a point there.

"I'm just busy right now. Running a gym comes with lots of paper work, many people don't know that. Today was a lot to chew on, so, yeah."

_"Sure."_

Silence again.

Then Red said: "I'm gonna tidy your bed now, you can't just sleep at your desk, that's got to be unhealthy. I'll just sleep on the floor I guess, and tomorrow we'll go to Pallet together."

"Whoa there, who said you're staying here?"

"I did, weren't you listening?"

Green bit back another grin. Red was definitely back. He watched as his old rival picked the items up from his bed and carelessly threw them on the ground.

"You call _that_ cleaning?"

"I said I was gonna tidy your bed so you can sleep. If you want me to be all neat at 3 AM, I expect you to pay me."

Green let out a frustrated sigh. Yep. Red was back.

When the bed was finally free, Green made a point of making himself as comfortable as possible in there. "Ahhhh, how nice it is to sleep in a warm, soft bed. Must suck for you since you have slept on stones for the past few years."

Red didn't answer for several seconds, then he said: "At least I still have my dignity. _You_ fell asleep at your desk. And you drool and snore by the way."

The revolted grouching sounds coming from Green's bed were music to Red's ears, and soon he fell asleep, knowing he had made the right decision of coming here.

* * *

 

When Green woke up the next morning, he had almost forgotten about last night. When he remembered, he thought it was a dream at first, but there Red was, on the blue carpet floor seemingly without a care in the world.  
It had got to be uncomfortable as hell, but Red lay there, completely relaxed and rhythmically breathing in and out, his mouth slightly hanging open. It was a sight you don't see often. Before him lay the champion of Kanto, the most powerful trainer in the world, and at the same time, his childhood friend, vulnerable and unaware of his surroundings and my god, was this a beautiful view. 

Green could have watched him sleep forever, his heart jumping joyfully in his chest. He stripped all the implications behind this feeling away and just enjoyed it without thinking too much. This feeling had often appeared when he looked at men, and he just took it for what it was without ever acting on it. He had played with the thought of being gay for a few years now, but then again, he really, _really_ liked boobs.

His heart especially did weird things every time he saw Red, but he had never dared to go _there_ with his mind. Red was his friend, nothing more. Besides, he didn't even know what it was, his weird appreciation for the male body even though he'd had girlfriends in the past who he had been romantically and sexually interested in. He knew that some people were attracted to both genders, but this was also a place he didn't want to let his mind wander to.  
What would that do to his image?

It was another reason why he admired Red. He had never cared. When they were fourteen years old, Green had pointed out a pretty girl to him once, and Red had shrugged and casually said "Eh, I'm not really into girls."

"What are you into then?", Green had asked, confused. The concept of homosexuality had still been foreign in his mind back then.

Red had looked at him like he was an alien. "Um...guys...?"

And Green had answered: "Oh. Cool."

And that was it. They never talked about it again and Green realized that it didn't change literally anything between them, so he really didn't care. When Red became famous, he still went out with guys in public, holding hands and even kissing them in front of anti-gay protestors.

It was weird; on the one hand, Red had tried so hard to be liked by people, but on the other hand, he had rebelled against these idiots with too much time on their hands _publically._

But that's how Red was. If Green had to describe him with one word, he would say _contradiction._ Red was a walking paradox. On the one hand, he preferred silence and being by himself, on the other hand, he was the center and the light of every party. On the one hand, he was really worried about what people thought of him, but on the other hand, he emitted so much self confidence that if he gave every single person in Kanto a piece of it, no one would ever feel insignificant anymore. On the one hand, he hated talking, but on the other hand, he was one of the most eloquent and philosophical people he had ever met. On the one hand, he had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong and really cared about people and injustices, and on the other hand, he didn't think twice about packing his things and leaving for three years without saying a word to anyone.

Green let himself fall back on his pillow, finally tearing his gaze off of Red's sleeping form, and grabbed his phone to check if any more messages had appeared.

Indeed, three texts and one missed call. This was unusual, even considering how impatient Oak was.

He clicked on the messages.

2:03 AM: "Green, I can _see_ that you read my messages."

2:10 AM: "I will not tolerate this ignorant behaviour of your's any longer."

3:00 AM: "Well, I assume you went to sleep, but I expect an answer from you tomorrow morning first thing you wake up, and it better be 'I'm on my way'".

Green groaned. He was glad Red would come with him. At least that would distract the old man a little. Or not. Most likely not. He could already hear his grandfather's voice: "Why aren't you more like Red?"

And he already had the bitter answer ready: "I will more than gladly disappear and not answer you for three years compared to these three days."

Before he could start fuming and obsessing over his bitterness, he heard Red shifting and taking a deep breath, and when he looked at him, he was rubbing his eyes and then sighing contently.

Pikachu was waking up aswell- totally in tune with his trainer, as always- and stretched with an adorable "Pikaaaaa"- sound.

"Morning," Red mumbled sleepily. He did look pretty cute. _No homo though._ Green chuckled silently at that ridiculous thought before he replied "Yeah, same to you."

"So, what's the plan?", Red asked, his deep voice still sounding a little nasal because of how tired he still was.

"Better get up and leave for Pallet now so we can be there in fifteen minutes, tops," Green said. "I swear, Gramps is about to come here and rip my head off."

He saw Red go pale. The taller man sat up with shock written all over his face. Evidently, he had forgotten about Pallet Town.

Yesterday's euphoria and adrenaline had worn off, and now Red had to deal with the uncomfortable part of his return: facing his mother.

Green looked at him without sympathy. He had left on his own free will, now he had to suffer the consequences. "Come on, dude, your mom wants you back. She'll be mad, but most of all, she'll be happy you're back."

Red kneaded his hands and looked at his lap. "I...maybe coming down here wasn't that good of an idea."

Green felt anger and fear flash through him like lightening, two way too familiar feelings. Seconds ago everything had been fine, and now they were going back to square one; Green trying to convince him to come back, and Red being a stubborn piece of crap. In one motion he jumped out of bed and stomped towards Red. "No. You do _not_ get to do this. You don't get to come back into my life down here and then have second thoughts about it. I won't let you."

Red looked up at Green, trying to hide how shocked he was at the strong reaction, but not quite managing to.

"You're twenty years old now, Red. You can't hide and run away forever. Grow up. You fucked up, now fix it. That's what adults do."

Anxiously he waited for a response. This had been harsher than he had intended, and now that his frustration calmed down a little, he felt like he had overreacted. And the only thing he had probably reached with it was scaring Red off once and for all.

But Red just bit his lower lip, looked back at his lap, and then said: "Okay."

Green let out a sigh of relief. "Good, good...I guess.... we should just leave right now then." _Before you can second guess it again,_ he silently added. He couldn't bear the thought of Red disappearing again after he was so close to have him back.

Red nodded grimly, and they silently left the apartment. Green locked the door, then he lead him down an old, creaking staircase, and when they exited the building and called out their Charizard and Pidgeoto to fly them back, Red hesitated. "I'm scared."

Green nodded. "You'll manage. Your mom will jump for joy, and gramps will be too busy criticizing me to pay much attention." He knew that wasn't true- his grandfather would likely not pay _any_ attention on him while Red was there-, but maybe it would cheer him up.

They got on their pokemons' backs and took off to the sky. Green looked at Red when the first buildings of Pallet Town showed up, and he saw a slight smile play around his lips, his tension easing off a little. 

This was home. This was everything he knew and loved. Why had he been worried?

They landed in the front yard of Red's house, where Delia was currently busy with yard work, her movements melancholic and robotic.

She barely turned around when she heard them, only said "Hello, Green" with a sad voice that pained Red.

He cleared his throat.

"Hi, mom."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! I'm always happy to read comments and see what you guys thought! Thank you so much for everyone who is reading this and left a kudos!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you guys so so much for your comments, I really appreciate the feedback and I didn't think I would get so much of it! I'm glad you like the story so far! Here's a bit of a long chapter, I hope it's not a drag!

"Hi, mom."

Red felt like he had said these words an enternity ago, but it couldn't have been more than two or three seconds. The silence that followed made him forget he had a heartbeat and that he had to breathe to keep it beating, and everything around him suddenly seemed to move in slow motion. Especially his mother, who had frozen in her spot, gasping for air. He would later describe this as the longest moment of his entire life. Practically, every reaction was possible now. Crying, laughing, feigned indifference, violence... he didn't have time to decide which would be the worst one.

Then she spun around and stared at Red for what seemed like another eternity, her eyes wide open, her hands clasped over her mouth. He had almost forgotten how much he had missed her, but now all he wanted to do was to feel her motherly hug again and cry in her arms like a baby.  
  
She looked different, even though it had only been three years. He could have sworn she used to be bigger, and it seemed like she lost more weight than it was healthy for her. Her face was marked with worry lines. Some of her hair was grey, and her eyes (already watering) had lost their joyful spark. His guilt almost outweighed his happiness. He knew that he was responsible for this.

"Oh my god," Delia whispered with a shaking voice, tears already falling. She dropped her watering can and the tiny rake as she swiftly and almost reverendly walked over to him, as if he was an illusion that would disappear if she went too fast.  
  
As she grabbed his face into her hands, she looked like she could barely believe that this was real. He tried a smile, but he was too overwhelmed and nervous. He so badly wanted to hug her, but he wasn't quite sure how angry she was. And then she actually started crying, sobbing "You're home!" as she pulled him into her arms so tightly that you would think she never ever wanted to let him go again. And he hugged her back, trying to hide his tears as best as he could, but damnit, if a grown man couldn't cry for his mom, what else could he cry for? "You're home, you're home," she kept repeating, interrupting the hug every now and then to inspect and touch his face, only to pull him back into her arms seconds later, and he was sure they had been standing here for over five minutes already, but that was fine with him.  
  
When she finally let go once and for all to look at him yet again, there was so much undeserved love and relief in her face that he wanted to kick himself. She stroked his cheek with her right hand.

"This isn't a dream, right? You're really here, right?" She didn't even let him answer because she was already squeezing him again. "Oh, my boy. My Red! I can't believe you're back."

He took a breath to start his apology that he had been going over and over in his head ever for literally months, but Delia interrupted him: "You don't need to say anything right now." She wiped away her tears, keeping her look fixated on his face as if she didn't want to waste a single second not looking at him. "I'm just happy you're back. You can explain later. Please just let me have this moment."  
  
She snuffled and took a tissue from her pocket to clean her nose. "You have no idea how often I imagined this moment, I...I didn't think it would ever actually happen, and especially not today." She blew her nose again. "When I woke up this morning, everything was so normal and I...I thought on special days, you should feel that they're going to be special, you know?" Delia shook her head and wiped her eyes again before taking a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, I'm blabbering. I feel so confused right now. Oh, Red!"

Another hug. Red felt a million pounds lighter. He had thought this was gonna be a disaster, and he definitely would have deserved a diferent reaction. Delia took a few steps back to properly look at him. "Dear, what happened to your arm?“

Red looked where her eyes had fallen and realized that he hadn’t washed the blood off after Evee had bitten him. „Evee bite,“ he sheepishly said.

„Maverick creatures,“ she noted, then she looked at him again and said: „Oh my, but you have grown so much." She sniffled now. "Last time I saw you, you were as tall as me, and now I have to look up when I'm talking to you." Then she sobbed again. "You've become a man! And such a handsome one, and I missed all of it, you jerk."

She jokingly slapped him up his head. Even in moments like these, she was exactly how he remembered her, and he had never loved her more. Now he was the one who pulled her into a hug, and after endless I Missed Yous and I'm Sorrys they had finally calmed down to a point where talking normally was possible, and only then Red remembered that Green was still standing there, next to his Pidgeoto, with that wide, smug smile on his face. He expected him to do something for this moment totally inappropriate, like bragging how he was the one who convinced Red to come down for example, but to his surprise, he let him have this moment without commenting about it. In fact, he actually looked a bit shy. This was new. So many things about him were new. How long had he been gone again?

"Let's go inside," Delia said, drying her face with another tissue. "We have so much to talk about."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Green said now, grandiloquently as if he had been adressed or invited, "but this mushy stuff really isn't for me and gramps is waiting. You'll have to do without me."

He turned around in one quick terpsichorean movement and threw in a "Smell you later!" before he went on his way. Red looked after him, fondly shaking his head. Green had a way of being tactful by being absolutely obnoxious. He wanted to let Red have this moment with his mother alone, but he couldn't do that without making a big deal of himself and reminding everyone of his existance.

Green was about to cross the street in front of the yard, when to both of their surprise, Red's mom ran after him.

"Wait, Green!" When she reached him, she pulled him into a warm hug.

"Thank you." She kissed his cheek before squeezing it. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you."

"Huh?"

"You took care of him, and you brought him back. Seriously: thank you. I owe so much to you."

"Um, I...no...problem?"

Smiling, she gave him a look of sincerity and squeezed his face one last time before returning to her son. "Send your grandpa my best wishes! And tell him the both of you are invited to dinner tomorrow! I'll cook your favourite meal!"

"Uh...thanks, Delia!" Then he was on his way, and Delia turned to Red with an only half-jokingly stern look on her face and her hands on her hips. "And now", she said, "I'm ready for apologies and explanations."

* * *

 

When Red stepped inside the small house, he couldn't believe how little had changed. The familiar scent of his mom's vanilla candles mixed with the wood from the fire place sent him back three, no, _ten_ years, and he felt himself beecome even calmer.

But at the same time, being here was strange. He had grown up here, and his host was his mom, yet he felt like he needed to ask for permission to sit down. Despite the way she had welcomed him, he felt like a stranger in this house.

She noticed his hesitation and pointed to one of the chairs. "Sit", she said. "I'll make you tea."

Red thanked her, then he took the time to look around his old home. Not a single object had moved from its original place. If he had to point out a difference, it was the fact that everything seemed a hell of a lot cleaner and neater.  
He remembered the only times his mom had become _this_ accurate with her house work: when she was severely stressed. She had never been the type to just resign and drink tea on the couch when things got tough, instead she tried to distract herself from problems by being productive. Red wondered for how long the house had looked this clean already. When he looked at the table, he noticed that some parts of it were bleached out a little, as if someone had scrubbed a little too often and a little too roughly.

There was another difference, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it right now, and his mom didn't give him much time to think about it because she was already done with the tea and gently put it down in front of him before sitting down.

The euphoria had worn off, and now finally she had time to grapple with the more exhausting emotions. With clear eyes, she looked at her son. "I'm listening."

Her voice still had traces of relief and happiness in it, but also made it clear that she was ready to talk serious and no-nonsense now.

Red looked down at the table. He didn't know where to start. His whole apology speech was suddenly forgotten, and right now, he wished he actually was mute.

After five minutes of not talking, his mom did the part for him. "Red, I'm happy you're back. You don't know what it means for a mother when her long-lost child finally returns to her. I can confidently say that this is the happiest day of my life, right after the day of your birth. But..." Sadly she stared a her fidgeting hands. "You also don't know what it means for a mother when she _loses_ her child. I thought you were dead or kidnapped for an entire year until Green, god bless him, finally found you."

Red still didn't say anything because he didn't know what. No amount of Sorrys could ever make up for what he did, and the reasons why he left suddenly seemed silly and insignificant compared to what his mom went through.

"After that, I was relieved, and so mad. I begged Professor Oak and Green to let me get up there, but they wouldn't let me. Pokémon League rules and all that. Apparently there was no way to make an exception, not even if I accompanied one of them. I had two years to let out all my anger. I have imagined myself yelling at you and shaking sense into you just as often as I have imagined myself clasping you in my arms and never letting you go. And during all of that, I had only one question in my mind: Why?"

There was so much hurt in her voice and her eyes now that he felt his shame in the form of physical pain. He squirmed in his chair.

She continued: "You know, in my mind, I was always sure that a good person wouldn't possibly be able to do this to someone they loved. So for the longest time, I wondered if you just weren't a good person, or if you didn't love me enough. But life isn't that black and white, right? I'm sure you had your reasons. And I demand to hear them. You owe this to me."

Her voice had a certain tone whenever she reprimanded Red for what he did. It was quiet and calm, and it almost made him shit his pants every time ever since he was a kid because this voice meant business.  
Seeing it from the new, adult perspective, he suddenly had a new kind of respect for his mother; he had never ever seen her become violent or loud in any way, yet people knew not to mess with her. How did she do that?

Finally, he dared to speak. "I love you, mom. I just...didn't think of that at the time. I mean, _really_ think of it. I knew it just like you know today is Monday-"

"It's Thursday."

"Oh. Well, I knew it just like you know today is Thursday, so I wasn't...aware of it I guess. I took you and everything around me for granted."

 _"Reasons,_ Red. I want reasons, not apologies."

He sighed nervously and stared up at the ceiling. That's when he noticed what was different: his mother had gotten a new lampshade. It was orange and made the room look warmer.

"You got a new lampshade," he noted, and she gave him a deadly look.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I guess..."

He thought about what he wanted to say very carefully. "Do you remember when I was eight years old and won the Kanto writing contest for kids?"

She seemed impatient, so he didn't wait for her answer and quickly continued. "It was in our newsletter and everything. It wasn't a big thing, but for Pallet standards, it was huge, and all the kids in school knew about it. Remember what happened?"

Delia sighed. She remembered. "The teachers gave me a heart attack when they called me and said they couldn't find you."

Red smiled at the memory. "I had hidden in the school's basement all day long and lost track of time. Green found me, just like he did this time."

"Red...what's your point?"

He shrugged. "It was the first time people suddenly started making a big deal out of something that I just liked doing. I loved writing, and suddenly, I was the center of attention for it."

Delia rubbed her temples. She seemed exhausted. "You are constantly the center of attention. I've seen you at parties and family gatherings."

"That's different. At parties, people don't expect anything of you. You don't have to live up to a standard, and you don't need to justify yourself for anything. The only thing you need to do is having fun. And if you're not having fun, you might aswell leave. Being a Champion was fun at first, but after a while, I got tired of it, and I couldn't leave. Also," he continued, "I used to go to parties maybe once a month, that was enough. But as a Champ, I didn't get to catch a break, ever. In the rare moments when the paparrazzi wasn't all over me, there were all these newspapers calling me a terrible person for things I did and for things I didn't do. All these people that came by every day and wanted to battle me...all the news articles...and then the moderator of this damn talkshow...everyone was expecting me to do perfect, and I was trying to live up to it, I was terrified of disappointing people and then the day came where disappointing people was all I did...I couldn't live up to their standards. I was going insane. I guess I just...snapped. And the more time passed on that damn mountain, the harder it was to just come back. I would have rather died than go back into the media hell. I know it was selfish."

She was silent for a few seconds, then she quietly said: "Yes, yes it was." Then: "Red, have you...have you ever felt like I put too much pressure on you?"

Surprised, he looked up at her. She was worrying that _she_ had done something wrong?

"It's just...I've always had the impression that you were really scared of disappointing people. Whenever you didn't do so well on a test, you apologized and almost _cried."_

Red thought back and clearly remembered it. He himself had often wondered why this was the case. His grandfather in particular had held him to an incredibly high standard, and Green's grandfather was even worse, putting him even above his own grandson.

He was Red, the Golden Boy of Pallet town. The kid who had won a regional writing contest at eight years old even though it was for ten year old kids, the kid who could talk at age 1,6, the kid who was just "such an angel and such a pleasure to have around", the kid who was naturally gifted with pokémon, and everywhere he only ever heard that people loved him for those exact reasons. Would they not love him anymore if his perfect fassade got a little scratch? Would he be worth less as a human if he wasn't a good writer, a good trainer, or a 24/7 nice person?  
Had this been the problem?

"Not you," he finally said. "But others maybe."

She nodded slowly, then shook her head with a sorrowful expression. "I always thought that. I tried my best to make you realize that it's okay to make mistakes, but look where it got me."

"You did great," Red just said, because he didn't know what else to say.

"No. No, Red, I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I'm upset at you. What you did was selfish and wrong, no matter what you were going through. But I still feel sorry that I couldn't do more for you. All of this must have been so much pressure for just a kid."

"Mom, seriously, none of this was your fault," he assured her, hoping she would believe him. "Really, mom! You're the best mother in the entire universe. I mean, come on, you _still_ haven't beaten me into a bloody pulp even though I would _so_ deserve it. Other moms wouldn't have so much self control!"

"Patience, young one. We're only just getting to that part."

Red laughed despite the strained situation. He was glad that his mom still hadn't lost her snark even after these troublesome three years.

Delia chuckled too for a second before she got serious again. She sighed, resigned. "I really do wish you had just talked to me about all of this instead of running away."

"I know," Red mumbled contritely. "I wasn't thinking straight at all. I was so angry and confused, all I wanted to do was get away."

Another sigh from Delia, then she clapped her hands together as if to wake herself up. "Well, it happened, and we can't change that. I have to say, I'm still pretty angry and disappointed, but the only thing we can do now is look forward and make sure this never happens again. And if it does, Red... you shouldn't expect me to be so nice about it."

She had wanted to say "You shouldn't come back at all", but she had caught herself before saying it, because in reality, this would be a much bigger punishment for her than it would be for him.

He nodded sternly."I promise."

And Delia believed him even though she had no reason to. She didn't expect him to actually pull something like this again, but then again, she also hadn't expected him to pull something like this in the first place. They stayed at the table in comfortable silence for a little. Red was worn out because he wasn't used to talking so much, while Delia was busy staring at her son's handsome face- _god,_ he really had grown up in only three years! Had really so much time passed ever since she brought this vulnerable little bundle home from the hospital?-, still trying to convince herself that he was actually here with her in this very room, then eventually she remembered that it was already dinner time, and Red looked like he desperately needed something to eat. "I'm gonna prepare dinner now. Potato stew. Ever since Green told me you were fine, I made sure to always have the ingredients for it in the house in case you came back."

"But I _hate_ potato stew."

"Exactly." She got up, but then she hesitated for a second. She put a warm hand on his shoulder. "Don't expect me to forgive you on the spot, Red. I love you more than my life, but this is really a lot to process."

"I understand," Red quickly said. "Can I...is it okay if I...I don't know, stay here? Because I totally understand if you don't want me here for now."

At that, Delia laughed. "You think after three years I let you walk out that door just like that? You're not getting away that easily, young man. You're grounded for eternity."

"But I'm twenty!"

" _Three years_ , Red! See it as subsequent punishment."

He groaned. "Aalright..."

"Do you want to go to your old room until dinner is ready? I left everything the same way as it was before."

"Actually, can I go visit Green and professor Oak?"

She shot him a stern look. " _Grounded."_

"I know, I know, but it's for a good cause, really! He needs me to distract his grandpa from him."

Delia's expression suddenly got sad and a little regretful. "Oh... oh, yeah, of course. God, sometimes I do feel sorry for that poor boy. Go support him! And you really need to apologize to him too!"

"Already did."

" _Sorry bro lol_ doesn't count. I know how you men talk to each oher. I want a real apology, and I will ask Green about it next time I see him. He deserves it after the treatment you gave him back then."

She had a point there, but he still rolled his eyes. Didn't matter if it was during warzones, icy winters, starvation times, or forest fires; moms would never ever stop being moms.

* * *

 

Green knew that his welcome in the lab would be nowhere near as pleasant as it was in Red's case, but right now, he didn't care. Calmly he strolled along the street, his steps bouncy and light, his face still feeling warm from where Delia had squeezed it, and his heart feeling full and contented. What just happened was part of a very small collection of moments where he felt like he and his presence mattered. He hadn't even realized how badly he had missed Delia looking at him like...well, like he was actually there. In the past three years, their only interactions had consisted of Green nervously and desperately trying to keep the news about Red short so he wouldn't annoy her, and her tiredly saying "Thank you, Green", making it clear that his presence was neither required nor wanted. Whenever he saw her, the only thing that seemed to radiate from her was "Get away from me". 

He had told himself that she didn't hate him, and now he could finally put his restless mind at ease with proof of it. She had genuinely smiled at him, pinched his cheeks, and hugged him. Why had he ever worried?

And it wasn't just that. Red had returned. Officially. He was back. Voluntarily. Green still couldn't believe it; his friend was back. Sure, he had seen him every day on MT. Silver, but that had been _him_ visiting _Red,_ Red giving no sign of whether he was annoyed or happy to see him. Now that Red was here, maybe their friendship would become less...strained. Less forced. That was, unless Red was soaked up into the show business again and started ignoring him.  
  
Green shuddered for a second, and his good mood seemed to darken, so he quickly shook the thought off. He hadn't been this happy in a long time, and he really didn't want his toxic mind to ruin everything. A pretty girl walked by, and he was glad about the distraction. He smiled and winked at her, and she blushed into a deep dark tone of red while giggling shyly. Cute. Not as cute as Red though. He couldn't help but wonder what it would take to make _him_ blush and giggle. Red, the most legendary trainer in the world, awkwardly giggling like an airhead because of some flirty comment he made. Green stifled a chuckle at the thought. Maybe one day he could try to make it a challenge.

Yep, today was a good day. Even the annoying little voice inside his head criticizing him on every step he took shut up for once. He would do anything in his might to keep it that way.

A look at his watch told him it was already 11 AM, and now finally, he involuntarily grimaced. So much for that. Ignoring text messages was one thing, but experiencing the consequences was another. He had hoped he could bring Red with him, but of course that had been a foolish thought. It was only logical he would spend time with his mom first.

When he reached the lab, he hesitated. He really didn't want to face his grandfather right now, but what choice did he have? Now that Red was back, he couldn't and didn't want to just disappear, so he opened the door to find the lab inside abandoned. He frowned. His grandpa didn't just take days off. "Gramps?", he called into the darkened room. "Graaamps!"

For a second, everything stayed quiet, but then he finally heard steps. Based on how they sounded, Green could already tell he was in for a hell of a lecture. And indeed, when Samuel Oak appeared, he did not look amused. In fact, Green had never seen him this angry.

Oak was a calm man, even when he was upset, but right now, he looked like all he wanted to do was strangle Green.

He already braced himself for what was to come now, and hated himself for it. How often had he told himself not to care about what the old man said, to just stay nonchalant?  
Too bad emotions didn't work this way.

"You!" Oak pointed accusingly at Green. "How _dare_ you?"

Green just shrugged, although his lung felt like it was pinched into a vice. "I'm happy to see you too, Gramps."

He expected Oak to explode at the snarky answer, but then the weirdest thing happened: he said something _nice._

"I was _worried_ about you! You can't just ignore my texts for three days straight! If whatsapp didn't show that you read my messages, I would have went straight to Veridian City already to check on you!"

Taken aback, Green didn't know what to say for a moment. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this.  
  
"Would you look at that, he's speechless for once. Well, at least that would be one achievement for today," Oak ranted on. "Do you ever think about anyone but yourself, Green?"

Green was indeed speechless. He just stared at Oak with an open mouth. "You're not even gonna say sorry?", Oak scolded.

At that, the fight in him came back. Apologizing to professor Oak, or well, anyone, was his least favourite thing. Usually when you say sorry, even when you truly mean it, it triggers another lecture with personal attacks about how incompetent and idiotic he was, and for some reason, it makes the discussion partner even more angry and dismissive. In his experience anyway. But he was neither incompetent or idiotic, at least that’s what he stubbornly told himself despite everything that proved otherwise, so he would definitely not apologize and make himself look like that.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away. “I get busy, I can’t just reply to your messages all the time,” he mumbled, knowing what a weak excuse this was.

“Oh, one little text would have killed you?”

“You never reply to my messages either!”, Green revolted.

“Yeah, but I’m _actually_ busy and you don’t _actually_ have too much of value to say.”

Of value, that meant it had to be strictly work related. Not Green’s work though, because that wasn’t work in Oak’s eyes. Personal messages weren’t welcome. Professor Oak wanted to hear about pokémon studies, not about how his grandson was doing.

For some odd reason, whenever Daisy texted him, he didn’t think of it as a bother to reply her back.

Impatiently, Green sighed. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “So, why did you want to _urgently_ see me? Do you need someone to clean your test tubes?”

“Not today.” The fact that Oak hadn’t even noticed that Green had been sarcastic and that “cleaning test tubes” was a legitimate reason to him to call his grandson out of his busy work day at the Gym baffled Green. He didn’t know why it did, after all, he knew his grandfather, but still.

Oak turned his back to Green now, his hands clasped behind his back and his nose so far up that Green was concerned for his neck. Typical. This old bastard was cockier than him and that was saying something.

“As you know, I’m working on a project together with the Silph Company.”

At that, Green did perk up. His grandfather had mentioned this before, but he hadn’t told him any details. Understandably, of course. Green knew that telling literally anyone details about this project before it was made public would make the Silph Co. drop the cooperation immediately and never work with him again, and that would, to put it lightly, suck.

When the Silph Co. wants to work with you, you’d be an absolute idiot to say No.  
And you’d be an even bigger idiot if you ruined that chance by angering them and betraying their trust.

If his grandpa told him about this now, and if he needed him for this…that would actually mean he did take Green seriously and trusted him and thought he was competent enough. As much as he was annoyed by the old man, he absolutely couldn’t deny that he wanted to make him proud more than anything in the world.

_Pathetic._

But then Oak continued: “This information somehow got leaked. Do you happen to have any idea who may be responsible for this?”

His vigor wore off. So it actually _was_ urgent. He felt like he got three sizes smaller under Oak’s stare even though he hadn’t even done anything wrong. Three seconds ago he had still thought Oak was about to trust him with secret information, and now the complete opposite was the case. He felt sick.

“I…I don’t…I don’t know…,” he stammered.

“Really? You don’t? Green, do you know how many words you say in just one minute? Do you know _how_ talkative you are? Do you even know _what_ you say when you chatter the way you do?”

Green didn’t have time to think about that because the stern look of absolute disappointment in Oak’s face was knocking the air right out of his lungs.

He was used to his grandfather being disappointed in him, but this was a new level.

“I…”

“I, I!”, Oak mocked. “It’s always just ‘I’ with you, Green, isn’t it? I am waiting for an actual answer, and please choose one that considers _my_ position, not just whatever excuse will save your sorry butt. _Did you talk?_ Because I have no idea how else this information would have gotten out. I'm lucky that the president of the Silph Company let me get away with a warning. _”_  

Green didn’t even need to think about that; no, he did not. He knew he rambled on and on sometimes without even noticing what he was saying, but what he was absolutely sure of was the fact that he was extremely careful about the important stuff.

The things he talked about usually weren’t that significant; they were hollow words to fill the silence and to empty his head. His grandfather working with Silph Co. most definitely hadn’t been on his list of conversational topics. Hell, his _grandfather_ hadn’t been on his list of conversational topics! He didn’t want to think about the old man more than it was necessary. If he was annoyed when people brought him up in conversations, why would he keep it going by bragging about what great things Oak did?

“No! No, I didn’t!”, he practically yelled. “I promise!”

Oak gave him a long stare. Green knew what he was doing; he tried to get him to talk by not saying anything. But the trick was old and Green didn’t have more to say, so he stubbornly stared back.

Eventually, the professor averted his gaze. “Alright. Then how can you explain this?”

He grabbed a news article from the table and shoved it in Green’s face.

“The professor Oak and Silph Co. collaboration; how the professor and the company working together could change our world”, Green read out loud.

Oak raised his eyebrows, implying the question “Sooo?”

“I have no idea, gramps! I swear! It definitely wasn’t me!”

Oak nodded sternly, still not fully convinced, but willing to let it go for now. The look of disappointment didn’t change though. Green decided to ignore it. “We’ll come back to that. Trust me.” Oh, Green absolutely did trust him on that. ”Another reason why I wanted to come you here is that I'm at a vulnerable situation now that this information is leaked. Team Rocket's comeback is rumored. ”

Green made a “Tsk” sound. “You don’t believe that, do you?”

“I know it from a safe source,” Oak said. “And the risk is too high. The project I’m working on is an important one, I have too much to lose. I can’t take the chance.”

“Is that your way of saying you’re scared and need me to protect you?”, Green taunted, slightly amused. Seeing Oak in a weak position for once was a pretty rare sight.

“No,” the professor said with force, “This is my way of saying that I want to be able to look out for _you.”_

“Wha…graaaamps!”, Green whined indignantly. “I’m the ex-champion! _I’m the strongest Gym leader in Kanto!_ I can look out for myself!”

“You’re underestimating Team Rocket, kid.”

Green grimaced at the way he said “kid”. Other parents used this nickname in a loving way, but with Oak, there was always an undertone that revealed how it was really meant; that Oak thought of Green as a helpless, immature child and that he didn’t have what it takes. He only ever used it in a negative context to remind Green of the fact that he was young and inexperienced and not as good as the Great Samuel.

“First of all, don’t call me that,” he snapped. “Second of all; I _fought_ against Team Rocket, and…”

“And it was _Red_ who defeated them while _you_ left because it was too big of a challenge for you.”

Green flinched. If Oak noticed, he didn’t show it. “You know just as well as I do, Green, that you tend to overestimate yourself. I tried my best to raise you with a realistic and healthy sense of self estimation-“, Green laughed at that, but Oak still continued, “but you still keep trying to go bigger and bigger, and then you fall and wonder why.”

 _How else could I possibly get your approval,_ Green bitterly thought while staring at the ground. If he didn’t go bigger and bigger, there was no possible way to reach Red’s standards, and it was clear how highly Oak thought of him.

“I’m leaving,” he said now.

“You absolutely aren’t,” Oak disagreed. “Unless of course you have a death wish.”

“Then I’m _definitely_ leaving.”

“Green…” Oak massaged his temples like he was getting a headache. “You have no idea about the extent of Team Rocket’s power. Allegedly, people have been getting attacked by their pokémon. _People,_ Green. They have learned. Team Rocket aren’t what they used to be. They don’t just engage in pokémon fights anymore, they are becoming physical as well. And we don’t even know _what_ kind of pokémon they have.”

“Okay then, gramps, if you’re so worried, why isn’t _Daisy_ here?”

“Because she is on vacation in Alola with Bill.”

“Bill? You don’t believe that _I_ can defend myself against Team Rocket, but _Bill_ can?!”

 “I trust Bill.”

“Wow, what do you say about me when I’m _not_ here?”, Green complained.

Bill, Daisy’s husband, was the other golden boy of professor Oak. Not quite as much as Red, but definitely more so than Green.

“Did you miss the part where I said they are in Alola, Green?”, Oak reminded him. “And also, I haven’t told her anything about the project. I don’t even think Team Rocket will be interested in her because she’s not as famous as you are, and she hasn’t been in Kanto for a long time.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Green mumbled.

“Drop the attitude,” Oak snapped and harshly slapped the back of his head.

Green rolled his eyes again. “Gramps, I have a _job,_ do you realize that? What do you want me to do- stay here cooped up in my room while the challengers camp in front of my Gym?”

“Running a Gym can hardly be described as ‘work’, Green. You do a little bit of paper work, that can be done here too. And the rest of the day you’re waiting for people to battle you. Lots of people battle for _fun._ If that’s so important for you, then just go to the Gym once a day or something.”

“Thanks for explaining my job to me,” Green dryly said. He had already given up on telling his grandfather why his job _was_ actually exhausting, so he continued: “Yet I’m still a pretty important part of a big and integral system. You seem to forget that challenging the Elite 4 and the Champion is a _big_ deal, and Gym leaders are essential for that.”

Oak made a scornful face. “I’ll tell you what people choose to be Gym leaders: people who weren’t good enough to be Champions.”

Green took a breath to reply, but Oak cut him off: “And no, you do _not_ count. Red defeated you five minutes after you got your title because your pighead didn’t treat your pokémon right. And I assure you, if he was still here, he wouldn’t choose to be a _Gym leader_.”

“No, instead he chose to rot on a snowy mountain away from society!”, Green revolted. He wasn’t actually mad at Red, but at the same time, he kinda was.

“Boy’s taking time to meditate and reflect on himself. That will only make him stronger and better.” It was so like Oak to find something good in literally everything Red did. “He’s always been such a thinker. You should take a page from his book. You’re always so impulsive.”

“Noted. See you in three years.”

“You’re a strong trainer, Green, but you wouldn’t last two days on that mountain.” When Green was about to give him a piece of his mind at that, he raised his hand. “But we’re derailing,” he said, matter of factly, and with that, the topic was done. That was also so like Oak; insulting Green and denying him the chance to defend himself. Or starting a heated discussion and ending it so abruptly that Green didn’t even have time to process it emotionally. These discussions always ended with Oak having the last word, and with the consensus that Green was basically a failure.

“There’s a third reason why I asked you to come here, and I didn’t want to tell you over the phone.”

Green raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. “Thrill me.”

“Someone wants to see you. She came here three days ago. I wanted to tell you sooner, but you didn’t respond, so…”

Now he had his grandson’s interest. “Who are you talking about?”

“Will you stay here?”

“Wow, emotional blackmail. Nice one, gramps."

_“Will you stay here?”_

“Oh, for Arceus' sake. Yes, I’ll stay here, now tell me who it is!”

But he didn’t need to wait for an answer, because the door behind Oak that lead to the staircase to his apartment opened at that instant, and a squeaky voice exclaimed “ _You’re here!”_

And Green nearly passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you SO so much for your feedback! It really motivates to keep going! Also, if you have any critcism, please don't hesitate to write that down, too!

Red felt fantastic. He didn't even know how else to describe this feeling, but "fantastic" did a pretty good job of covering everything that was going on inside of him right now. When had been the last time he felt fantastic? He didn't know. All he knew was that the tight knot in his stomach was gone, and that the anxiety he had been carrying with him for the last two years wasn't as bad as before. The most difficult part of his return was done. He still felt his heart racing when he thought about how he faced his mother, Green not giving him a chance to escape, and now he wondered how the hell he had actually brought up the courage to do it. Only two thoughts were preventing him from literally jumping in the air for joy: first, he had disappointed his mother and there was absolutely nothing he could do to make up for what he had done. And second, he still hadn't faced his biggest enemy: the media. He felt it lurking behind every corner, attacking him with their glearing camera lights and their inappropriate questions, making him feel the full force of disappointment in the form of stupid news articles. He was glad that no one had approached him yet, but then again, this was Pallet Town. No one was even outside right now. As soon as someone snapped a picture of him...as soon as they posted it online... there would be a storm coming for him, and he better get ready before that happened.

He took a deep breath. _One obstacle after the other. Start out small,_ he thought. And the first obstacle before the paparazzi and the annoying fans was Professor Oak. Would he be disappointed? Or, worse, would he still act like Red was all that? Would he make Green feel small and insignificant for the sake of the Great Champion Red?

But these things, he concluded, were not going to ruin his mood. Not now. He was home, he had made it off the mountain, and that mattered. He looked around, taking the sight of his hometown completely in and took a breath of the fresh air. The small, comfy houses had never looked more beautiful in his eyes. One of them- it used to be white- was painted pink now. It didn't look good and fell out of line with all the other houses, but Red decided he liked it, and he also decided that he liked the owners. They were different, and they were okay with it.

The trees growing on both sides of the street made this a beautiful, natural looking avenue, and the air carried the scent of their leaves. Red had always loved that. Right before him, two houses were coming up that had been abandoned for as long as he could remember. They were derelict, but the town never got rid of them. The newsletter his mom used to read (or still read?) announced that the mayor of Veridian City and Pallet wanted to do something about it every single day, and Red used to smile and roll his eyes every time he saw the articles because he knew these two houses would probably stay here forever.

And he had always been happy about that, because the roof of one of the abandoned garages used to be Red's favorite hideout, and, after Green found it too, it became their hangout place. The roof was contorted because part of the house was connected to it, and there was a wall that protected them from curious stares. When they were still kids, they used to plan all kinds of shenanigans up there. One time, when they were six years old, Green had "moved" here because he was mad at his grandpa, and it was only thanks to Red who brought him food and water every single day that his friend held out for an entire week before the police finally found him and a panicked Delia for once totally lost it with the both of them. That had been the only time he had seen her furious. He smiled at the memory.

Just as he was walking past the old garage, lost in his memories, something landed on his shoe with a slosh and made him jump. He looked down at what it was; vanilla ice cream. He didn't even need to look up to know who had dropped it.

 _"Whoops!_ Sorry! How clumsy of me!", a voice above Red's head said theatrically.

Red scowled while unhappily looking at the scoop of ice cream that was already starting to dissolve into a puddle. "You wasted some perfectly good vanilla ice cream just for that!", he scolded. "A _miltank_ had to give up her calf just for that!"

"Ahhh, come on, Red, don't be _that_ kind of vegan!", Green mocked. "I did you a favour; maybe now you can get rid of these ugly shoes you always wear and buy some good ones." Red looked up at him and shook his head disapprovingly. Green was casually sitting on the edge of the wall with an empty ice cream cone in his hand. That asshole had seriously thrown ice cream on the ground just to annoy Red. He didn't like it when people wasted food, especially not if that food was a pokémon product.

But he wasn't willing to dwell on that subject, especially because he now noticed that something was kinda off about his friend. He seemed cocky and chipper as ever, but looking closer, Red noticed the tension in his old rival's arms and a slight tremble of his body. He seemed...restless?

"What are you doing up there?", Red asked, ignoring Green's little jab and putting one hand over his forehead to protect his eyes from the sun as he looked at Green.

The auburn-haired man just shrugged. "Enjoying the view. At least I did, but then you came and ruined it all."

"Good one," Red deadpanned. "Can I join you?" 

He was more than happy about being able to skip professor Oak and go straight to hanging out with Green like they used to. And it seemed like Green had survived the lecture, so that was something. 

Green shrugged once again. "Whatever."

In his language, that was a "Yes". Nimbly and swiftly like a Pachirisu, Red climbed on the small wall in front of the garage and then pulled himself up, using the help of an old pipe.

When he let himself flop down next to Green, an unpleasant, sharp smell made itself felt almost immediately, and when he looked at Green, he saw little billows of smoke rise into view, coming from the hand that wasn't holding the now useless cone. He didn't know why it surprised him, but it did, and he absolutely didn't like what he saw.

"You're smoking," he said matter of factly, not quite sure what he was intending with this statement.

"I know, but thanks for the compliment anyway. You'd look pretty good too if you put in a little more effort," Green teased, but Red could tell he wasn't really feeling it.

He gave the cigarette a bewildered look. Green had never mentioned this. He had also never smelled like smoke. Usually he smelled like a walking perfumery because of all the millions of products he was wearing on his body every day to make himself look the way he did (seriously, Red had never seen such soft skin on a grown man), and while Red had never liked that smell, at least it had been... _Green_. Now he smelled hair gel, perfume and deodorant mixed with the stench of these cancer sticks.

Just like yesterday, he was stunned at how different circumstances could change people and relationships entirely. Red had barely been back in the real world for a day, and now his old rival’s scent already changed.

Red decided he didn’t want to accept this. Without a warning, he snatched the cigarette out of Green's hand and threw it on the ground.

"Hey, what the-...pfft. It's okay, I still have a whole pack." He showed it to Red as if to prove it and then lit up another cigarette.

"Since when do you smoke?", Red asked. Smoking was normal, it was just something that people did, and it wasn't as nearly as bad as drugs and alcoholism, so Red wondered why the hell this bothered him so much.

Back in High School, almost everyone in their year had smoked. But Green, Green hadn't.

"I don't know," he answered. "A year, maybe two? I stopped for a few months, but now I really need it. It relaxes me."

Red could tell Green was far, far away with his thoughts, and suddenly, he became worried. Was Green so stressed that he needed to rely on unhealthy methods to calm himself down? And what had stressed him so much to begin with? Did it have to do with...

"...your grandpa?"

Green took a pull on his cigarette, and when he sighed, a gust of smoke came out of his mouth and nose. It made Red sick. "Don't wanna talk about it."

“That bad?”

“Worse.”

This wasn’t the first time that Green was in a bad mood because of his grandfather and Red tried to cheer him up, but this was still different from how it used to be. Usually Green immediately started ranting and talking bad about professor Oak when he had the chance, but now he just looked resigned. That was when Red realized that Green probably wasn’t the only one who had changed in these three years; professor Oak likely had, too. And maybe the way he treated his grandson had become worse.

“Sure you don't wanna talk about it?”

“Yyyyyepp.” Green took a bite out of his cone and chewed it gloomily.

When Green Oak doesn’t want to talk, you know something serious is up. Red bit his lip while awkwardly looking at his hands, not really knowing what to do or what to say.

He knew his friend, but at the same time, did he really? He had no idea how to deal with a silent Green because Green was never silent.

But he had to do _something_ because his friend looked so tense, Red was scared he would bite his own teeth out. Or break his own knuckles. He hesitantly lifted a hand to give him a pat on the shoulder, only to put it down again before Green would notice. He didn’t know if he would appreciate the physical contact. A terrible thought came to him suddenly: were him and Green truly friends anymore? Were friends really that awkward around each other? The Green that came to visit him on MT. Silver every day was an actor, someone masked happiness and whose only goal it was to get Red off the damn mountain. Now he was the real Green, still an actor because he was terrible at showing his true emotions, but with his own problems and worries, and Red didn’t know how to deal with them, or _him_. Sometimes, he wanted to shake him and yell “Smile! Laugh! Cry! God damnit, do _anything,_ just take off the mask you’re wearing! _”_

He felt the guilt heavily sitting on his chest; Green always seemed to have a plan when Red had issues. And here Red was, not even daring to put a hand on his shoulder and on top of that being annoyed at the way his friend was handling his problems.

Some friend he was. He knew he needed to do better if he wanted to keep Green around, he needed to do _something_ to cheer him up. But just as he opened his mouth, Green suddenly smiled that fake smile that Red hated more than anything in the world and asked: “By the way, how was the talk with your mom? You still seem intact, so I assume you fled the scene?”

He exhaled the breath he had taken to talk, silently cursing Green for interrupting him.  
  
“You know my mom. She’s not the type to chase after me with a rolling pin.”

Although he did have to grin at the thought. Green did too. It seemed genuine, and Red marked it as his second biggest achievement of today. He had made Green smile. The guy had such a nice smile when he wasn’t faking it. Why couldn’t he just do it more?

“Too bad, I was kinda hoping for it,” Green said. “Someone _needs_ to punch you in the face.”

“Why haven’t _you_ done it then? You scared of me?”, Red taunted.

“Tsk. _No?!_ I just don’t want to get my beautiful hands dirty on someone like _you.”_

Red laughed. He had to admit that Green’s vanity _was_ amusing to a degree.

“But seriously, how was it?”, Green asked now.

Red wasn’t sure if he really cared or if he just wanted to distract from his own issues. Either way, deep down he was relieved that he didn’t have to try and cheer Green up now, and he hated himself for that.

Reading people and treating them accordingly usually came easy for him. He had spent his entire childhood not really talking that much and rather observing. His mother had once told him that his kindergarten teachers had _adored_ 4-year old Red for his high social skills and his- for his age- high capability of empathy. But Green was just a different story. If being empathetic and cheering others up was a game, then all other people would be easy challenges, and Green would be the final boss. Which was weird because most other people were strangers to Red, while Green was his best friend, then his rival, and then his friend again. For _seventeen years._

It was just that Green also had a talent that he had perfected ever since childhood, and that was deceiving people. The only one he didn’t fool with his masquerade was Red, and maybe Red’s mom, but their skills were only good enough to realize that Green was fake; not to see who the real Green was.

Again, Red had to question if they were truly friends if Green wasn’t even willing to show him his true self.

 _“Hello?”_ The auburn-haired man snapped his fingers in front of his face. The cigarette was thankfully gone now, only the half-eaten ice cream cone was still in his other hand. “Someone home? I asked you something.”

Red jumped a little. He _needed_ to stop thinking so much when he was talking to people.

“You’re weird, Red,” Green said now. “That thing you always do, ya know, not answering and looking at nothing, it freaks me out.”

Red playfully punched his shoulder, rolling his eyes. “You know what we should do?”, he asked as he suddenly had an epiphany.

“So you’re just gonna ignore my question?”

“Yes.” If Green wasn’t going to tell him what had happened at the lab, Red wasn’t going to tell him what he wanted to know either. “Anyway, remember how we used to get into handcards and roll down the little hill in Chester’s Street?”

“Yeah. It was dangerous as hell.”

“I know! Let’s do it again!” The more Red thought about this the more excited he was at this terrible idea. There were so many things he wanted to do and experience now that he was home, and also, this would be the perfect opportunity to spend time with Green and finally see him laugh again.

Green however looked at his friend as if he had lost his mind. “Red, we aren’t six anymore.”

“Exactly, that limits the risk! Makes it a little less fun, but still!”

“It seems like you missed out on this thing called _growing up_ and _common sense_ while you were up there. I can’t just do dangerous shit like that, I’m a teacher, I need to be a role model.”

Now Red looked at Green like he was crazy. “You’re a _Gym Leader.”_

“Red, do you _ever_ listen when I talk? Gym Leaders also have the responsibility to teach classes of aspiring pokémon trainers and, well, training with them. I’ve _complained_ about my students so many times now!”

“Ooooohhhhh.” Red had to admit that he usually stopped listening when Green started complaining about his day (except when it had to do with professor Oak because that was important information), but now he remembered. Training pokemon was an extremely high responsibility and came with an extremely high risk, so the government had decided that absolute experts in training had to teach the kids the most important knowledge.

The stronger the Gym Leader was, the older was the age group that they taught because legally, you could only become a pokémon trainer if you were at least ten years old, only had unevolved pokémon that weren’t bigger than 1,30 meters tall and an adult accompanied you (which was pretty lame, so no one did it). At sixteen years old, you could travel alone, but there were still certain pokémon you weren’t allowed to have until you were at least eighteen and passed a test, so it made sense that weaker Gym Leaders taught the smaller kids with their smaller pokémon.

Now he realized that this was also a reason why him and Green were more famous than the other Champions: because they had managed to beat the entire Elite 4 with pokémon that weren’t taller than 1,45 and only on the second stage of evolvement.

He really should have given himself and Green more credit because _that_ was one hell of an achievement. It was just too bad that people only ever saw that Green lost a few minutes after winning the Championship, and not that he had done something that almost no sixteen year old could ever dream to accomplish without cheating.  

“…typical, I talk and you don’t listen, and then you…hey! You’re doing it again! You’re staring off into the distance! You’re not listening to me while I’m complaining about you not listening to me!”, Green ranted. For how long had he been ranting? He didn’t care, he just wanted to go to the hill and roll down in a handcart like he used to, so he didn’t say anything, just grabbed Green by his arm and pulled him along as he walked to the old pipe to climb down again.

“Did you _hear_ what I _just_ said?”, Green complained.

Red smiled. “Yes. Let’s go.”

That’s when Green exploded and Red grinned as he climbed down, feeling pretty satisfied with himself.

* * *

 “Oh, gosh darn it!” Delia rummaged through the pantry. “Come on, _seriously?”_

Yep. Ever since Green had told her that Red was alive, she had made sure that she had all the ingredients for potato stew in the house every day. _All_ the ingredients.

_Except potatoes._

Frustrated, she slapped the empty shelf as if it was responsible for this. This day had been a crazy one, in a good and in a bad way, and she was just tired and annoyed.

Strangely, she was okay with that annoyance since a big part of her heart was fulfilled because of Red’s return. Every obstacle life would throw her way today was insignificant compared to this. Yes, she _was_ disappointed and hurt, but part of being a mother, she guessed, was loving your children no matter what they did. And for all _she_ cared, Red could commit murder and he would still be her Red. She didn’t know if that was an unprogressive way of thinking, or if it was right, but she didn’t care; emotions aren’t rational, and she would never ever stop being a mom.

So if now the shelf had to suffer a little because it dared not to have potatoes in it, then so be it. She’d have to go to the market to buy some new ones.

Red probably wouldn’t be back for a while anyway. He would either spend some time with Green- she kind of hoped for that because Green really should have some company-, or professor Oak would start talking and talking and never let him go.

She sighed and searched for her keys and her wallet, then she left for the market.

As she had expected, all of Pallet seemed to be here. The little town was dead and dozy, but the market was _always_ full of masses of people. She didn’t even know that many people lived in Pallet, so a lot of them probably came here from Veridian City because they knew the products here were fresh and regional.

Usually she hated being here because every time she was, she felt people staring at her, the mother of the boy who had disappeared. But now that he was back, she didn't mind anymore.

 _Yeah, keep staring,_ she thought. _I know something that you don't know..._

She went straight to the vegetables, hoping she wouldn’t have to wait in line for too long (of course she was wrong), when suddenly a rather tall man pushed her out of the way.

“Ex _cuse_ me!”, she yelled after him, but he just kept walking. Delia shook her head. Some people!

_Red is back. Don’t let this guy ruin your mood, your son is back and life is good._

With a frustrated sigh, she kept walking and, when she had finally made it through the masses of people, grabbed the desired potatoes.

That’s when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She flinched a little while she quickly rummaged in her memory who this could be, and when she turned around, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

A woman her age was giving her a wide, excited smile.

 _“It’s really you!”,_ she screeched with a voice Delia had always hated. A hug without consent followed that Delia didn’t return because she was still too shocked. “I wasn’t sure if I should approach you or not because _how awkward_ would it be if you weren’t the right person, but wow, you still look so _young_ and exactly as you did back then!”

Delia took a breath to say something, but the woman continued. “What a coincidence that we’re seeing each other here! I’ve been back in Pallet for a few days now, but I’ve been at the lab with my father-in-law the whole time! And guess what, I saw my son today! For the first time in like _ten years!_ That boy has _grown!”_ She sighed and looked like she was talking about a cute little puppy or something when she continued: “Can you believe it? Our boys are so big now! And my gosh, he’s _handsome_ and he has achieved _so much,_ I am _so proud._ He didn’t really appreciate me unexpectedly dropping in on his life again, but I’m sure he’ll come around. Ahhh, but here I am, bragging about my kid like I didn’t know what happened to your’s! I’m so sorry Delia.”

Delia took another breath, but was interrupted again. “It’s such a shame! Your Red was a real prodigy. You’re so strong, how are you dealing with this? Because if I lost my Green, I wouldn’t be able to live on anymore.”

Delia didn’t bother taking a breath this time, and it turned out that she didn’t have to. “I admire you! Really! But anyway, busy day! I wish we could talk and really catch up, but I still need to buy groceries, I want to prepare my baby’s favorite meal for when he comes back! Send my best wishes to- oh, I’m sorry. Hope we can have dinner soon! Have a nice day, sweetie!”

She kissed Delia’s left and right cheek despite the fact that Delia tried to pull her face away as far as possible in disgust, then she disappeared in the crowd of people, while the other woman just stood there, wondering what the hell had just happened, and if it was really real.

Then suddenly, her heart was aching so much, it almost wasn’t bearable, and she really hoped now that Red was with his friend.

 _Oh, Green,_ she thought sadly. _Poor, poor Green._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again so much for your feedback! Sorry this chapter came so late, it's been a stressful month and also, I had the dreaded writer's block. Hope you like it! Feedback, negative and positive, as always welcome :)

Green often had the pleasure to experience being amused and upset at the very same time; that pretty much came with being Red’s friend, or Red’s rival, or Red’s acquaintance. Anything to do with Red, really.

But right now, he was so upset and yet so highly entertained that it made him even madder.  
He wasn’t looking at Red anymore, the guy who was wracking his very last nerve on this great-but-turned-awful-day; no, he was looking at “Jack”, the stranger with long blonde hair, sunglasses and a colorful hippie-shirt who came to Pallet just to get into a handcart and roll down the hill in Chester’s Street. He looked ridiculous.

“Red, I know you don’t want to be recognized, but really? You’re _that_ desperate?”

“Hey, the way to Chester’s Street is a pretty public place and I have to take advantage of the fact that my mom is a hairdresser. Never thought these wigs would come in handy one day.”

“Where _is_ your mom? She’s definitely neglecting her duty of supervision, why isn’t she preventing this catastrophe?”

Red shrugged. “No idea. She was about to cook, but knowing her, she probably forgot half of the ingredients.”

“What is wrong with this family?”

“I don’t know. We should go get some advice from your’s!”

“Ouch, Red.”

Red stuck out his tongue at the same time Green rolled his eyes. “Alright, I’m ready!”, he said then, after looking into the mirror. “Let’s go.”

“So we’re really doing this? Seriously, Red?”

“Why else would I have suggested it? Come on, grandpa, get going!”

“You’re the worst.”

“I know.”

They got the handcarts, which unfortunately still existed, from the garage and left the house, walking towards Red’s idiotic plan. Green suspiciously watched the other man. Or rather, his backside, because when he had his mind set on something, he became a freaking Luxray. It was annoying, in an endearing kind of way. He hadn’t seen Red like this in a long time; it was…refreshing. And so nostalgic. Red always had this carefree energy around him that made him feel like everything was going to be alright, even when the logical part of his brain knew that it wasn’t. It allowed him to push the thoughts about his grandpa, his cooperation with the Silph Company and, most importantly, his good-for-nothing-mother who didn’t even look the least bit ashamed of walking back into his life out of nowhere aside.

Green really didn’t want to do this stupid handcart thing, but then again, he was desperate for a distraction, and also, he didn’t want Red to think he was boring. Or let him see that rolling down that hill made his stomach drop to his knees.

When he watched Red with his broad shoulders and his lean muscles, he wondered just when the tables had turned. After all, Green had been the one with the famous pokémon professor in the family. He had been Red’s measuring stick. He had been the one who had given Red advice and made sarcastic remarks about his battling techniques. He had been the one all the girls swooned over in school while Red had been the silent weird kid. And now he was the one who didn’t want to look vulnerable while every fiber of his being was protesting against what they were about to do right now just to look cool in front of said silent weird kid.

But just as they were about to turn into the way to Chester’s street, they saw a familiar face.  
Red froze next to him, and Green knew that his eyes were going wide behind his ridiculous sunglasses.

“Green.” Green didn’t know why his grandfather always said his name like an assessment.

“That is my name,” he replied dryly. He shouldn’t have expected this day to still go smoothly even after what had happened at the lab; should have known that his grandfather would ruin it again somehow. “What are you doing here, gramps?”

“I’m on my way to Veridian City, I have a business meeting there.” He scrutinized his grandson. “I see you finally calmed down a little,” There wasn’t a hint of guilt in his voice. “I can understand why you behaved that way, but I cannot excuse it. You’re an adult now, Green. You ought to have a little more self-“

Red suddenly started coughing loudly and obnoxiously, obviously as an attempt to deescalate.  
Green wanted to hug this idiot.

Professor Oak’s piercing gaze went from Green to Red without changing expressions.  
  
“And who is that?”, he asked with a trace of disdain in his voice.

“I’m Jack. It’s an honor to meet you, Professor Oak.” Red put out his hand, but Oak didn’t shake it. Cocky bastard.

“And what are you doing here, Jack?” The contempt at this long-haired weirdo was so obvious, Green wanted to slap him.

“He’s my friend,” he said, becoming nervous.

They were in a public place, and at this time of the day, lots of people were outside. If Oak recognized Red now, all of Kanto would soon know about his comeback.

Indeed, Oak squinted a little and suspiciously looked closer at Red’s face. Green held his breath and Red was shifting his weight from one foot to the other in a two-second rhythm.

Then Oak’s gaze switched between the two young men with a telling and slightly upset expression before fixating itself directly at Green. “That figures” he said with so much contempt in his voice that Green’s entire ribcage felt like it was imploding. “Don’t be late today. And treat our guest with more respect this time.” Then, without another word, Oak was on his way again, leaving his very pale grandson and his grandson’s strange friend behind.

“Wow,” Red said next to him. “I mean...wow.”

Green sighed. “Now you see what I’ve had to live with.”

“I knew your grandpa was always kind of an ass to you, but… _wow.”_

“You don’t know half of it,” Green muttered. “But let’s forget about that. We should get going! Bet I’m still faster than you!”

“Green…”

“Come on, _Jack_ , last one buys the winner ice cream!” He winked. “After all, I just wasted mine on you!”

Red hesitated. Green frowned. “Come on, man, I’ll make sure your’s is vegan!”

Red still seemed to search for the right words. There was sympathy in his expression, and Green wasn’t sure, but was that disappointment he saw as well? He wouldn’t be surprised. Disappointing people was his biggest talent, after all. But _Red,_ of all people? Why was _he_ disappointed in him? Was it just…Green’s existence? His aura? He didn’t want to admit it, even to himself, but if he was honest, Red’s opinion mattered to him. A lot. The look he gave him right now made him feel nervous and unsure, but most of all, pathetic.

He sighed, frustrated. “Alright, then let’s just _forget_ about it. Jeeze!”

“That’s not what I- “

“I _know_ what you were trying to say. God damnit, Re- Jack, I don’t need your pity.”

Red raised his hands in a placatory gesture. “Okay then. Sorry!”

“I don’t want to do this stupid handcarts-thingy either. It’s idiotic and we aren’t six anymore.”

“But you just said…”

“Well, you ruined it, like you always do.”

“Do you want me to buy you ice cream?”

“ _No._ Well, yes, but…ah, forget it.”

Angrily he looked away from Red at nothing. He knew he was behaving like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

The look his friend gave him now- confused and worried- made Green want to flee the scene.  
His childhood friend and unofficial role model obviously thought he had lost his mind.

And maybe he had. His grandfather had just embarrassed him in front of Red for the millionth time, and even though he should be used to that already, it was more painful every time it happened. And on top of that, he was now brabbling and behaving like an idiot, and he couldn’t stop.

He realized yet again how little control he had of himself and his emotions. They were getting the better of him and making him their little bitch, and all he could do was helplessly watch while he gave in to them. But anger and arrogance, those were easy to handle. And it was way too easy to turn his vulnerabilities into nothing but that.

He had never behaved this way when he had visited Red on MT. Silver because there had never been a reason to. And that just meant that Red was seeing a side of him that could potentially ruin everything. No wonder he had suddenly started ignoring him after he got famous. Green wanted to curl up and die.

“ _You’re_ weird,” Red finally said into the awkward silence, a sober tone to his voice. “You always say _I’m_ the weird one, but nope, that’s all you.”

 _Sorry,_ Green thought. _All I have to say is Sorry. Why am I still not saying Sorry._

“Tsk. Even if that was true, it’s just because I hang around with you way too often.”

“There he is.” Red smiled. “The Green we all know and hate.”

“Always at your service.”

Red’s smile turned into a grin, and Green felt like a million heavy weights were lifted from his chest.

Why in the world someone like Red wanted to be friends with him, he had no idea.

 _Um, because I’m awesome, that’s why. Aren’t I?_ Aren’t I?!

“So, what are we doing now? Handcarts or no?”, Red asked.

“No. Let’s just chill. You know, age appropriately. This kind of ruined my mood.”

He was glad for the excuse. Finally his grandfather had helped him somehow.

Red sighed. “Oookaaay. This was probably a bad idea anyway.”

"Glad you agree."

They walked around for a while until they found a silent place to sit on a little unoccupied bench. Moments of comfortable silence vanished, until Red said: “So, according to you, I missed half of what you told me on MT. Silver.”

“Because you’re a bad listener.”

“Because I’m a bad listener. Tell me about your teaching job! It _really_ sounds interesting.”

Green didn’t need to be told twice. Red smiled when he started talking the way he did: passionately and without pausing for a breath. Green hadn’t had it easy in his life, so seeing him be so enthusiastic about something warmed Red’s heart. The fact that Green could talk for literally hours without interruption was impressive and, in a way, endearing. It was just so _Green._ No one else was like this, only this idiot wearing green capris and fancy black button up shirts for no reason. 

The truth was, Red hadn’t missed everything Green had told him because he wasn’t interested in what he said, but because he was too busy staring at his exaggerated hand gestures and at his expression changes with fascination. He had soon come to realize that talking was an outlet for Green, a way to express himself. And he was glad that unlike before, this time, making him talk had worked. Then again, getting him to talk about anything except the things that were actually bothering him wasn’t a hard task.

He closely looked at Green; _really_ looked at him. He had to admit he was worried. The way professor Oak had behaved today had really crossed the line. Red had always suspected that Oak was kind of a bad guardian, but now, it seemed like he had mega-evolved into a giant asshole who was even bad enough to make Green start smoking. Green hadn’t even been able to hide behind his own ego this time, the pain and anger had just been too apparent. And the way he was stammering and contradicting himself after that… this wasn’t a good sign.

Only now that he was aware of all of this, Red noticed that the clean black shirt was a little too big for Green, that his usually perfect skin was a little too dark under his eyes, and that his hair was a little too unkempt to pass as deliberately disheveled.

But now, as he was talking, he looked relaxed, distracted. It made Red sad because his friend had never really gotten the opportunity to look or feel like this in his life, and that was just so damn unfair. That feeling came back again, the one he’d had when he saw Green asleep at his desk, and only now, he was finally able to define it; it was the urge to protect. He had felt this when he was six and saw a caterpie be hunted by a pidgey, and when he was ten and saw how a little girl was about to fall into the sea of Pallet. Back then, he had grabbed the caterpie in his hands and shooed the pidgey away. To the girl, he had loudly yelled “Stop!” and pulled her away from the giant waves. Those had been easy solutions. But what was he supposed to do with Green? He just wanted him to always be able to feel the way he did right now, but that was just unrealistic. It would be such a good start if he stopped pretending for once, but that was even more unrealistic.

When Green finally finished talking, it was already dark, and Red was pretty sure he wasn’t even talking about his teaching job anymore. But what did he know? He hadn’t been listening. _Whoops._

He remembered that his mom had wanted to cook something and had probably expected him to come home a couple of hours earlier. _Double whoops._

At least Green looked happier now than before. He was used to being treated like trash by his grandfather, after all. Red tried to shake that thought off because it made him want to punch the old man’s face.

“You should come to one of my lectures one day”, Green finished his speech. “I-if you want to. I mean, you could use the lessons. Let’s not forget that you don’t even have a license for most of your pokémon. And hey, not many people have the privilege to be taught by a master like me. Did you know that 4000 students applied for the school I teach in? That’s 3800 more than when Giovanni was still teaching there. And the other schools in Kanto only had, like, a hundred appliances.”

“Oh yeah?” Red smiled mischievously. “How many of these 4000 were girls?”

“ _Hey,_ they did _not_ just apply because of my devilish good looks!”

“Alright then. I’ll come to one of your lectures and convince myself of that.”

There it was again, that rare, genuine smile that made Red’s heart jump. This obviously meant a lot to his friend. He wished he had a universal way of making Green happy just so he could see this smile forever and ever.

“Awesome! Next lecture is tomorrow at noon.”

“Great!” Red _was_ curious. Seeing Green in his element, seeing what he did instead of just hearing about it in his endless speeches, was indeed worth getting off the couch for. It was touching, in a way, that Green allowed Red to learn more about him and invited him into his life.

“Cool! Well, thanks for listening to me ramble, I guess. Or, wait no, actually, you’re welcome! I blessed your ears today.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Green,” Red snickered before stretching and getting up from the bench. “I have to go home now, or else my mom will _actually_ chase after me with a rolling pin. Are you coming with me?”

Green shook his head. “Nah, I really don’t want to go back yet. I’m not in the mood for my grandpa.”

Red gave him a sympathetic look as he took a hold of the two handcarts that hadn’t been used. “You sure you’re okay?”

Green glared at Red accusingly, and again, he had to apologize. “I get it, you don’t wanna talk about it. Keep being stubborn then.”

“That’s the plan.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Green tipped his forehead with two fingers and waved them at Red. The way he sat on this bench all alone, he would have been the perfect inspiration for a depressed painter. Red didn’t feel good about leaving him alone here, not just because he was so down right now, but because the atmosphere in Pallet seemed to have changed all of the sudden now that it was dark.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he felt like something was off.

He was glad that he and Green always had their pokémon with them. Now that it was dark, the streets were empty again, and involuntarily, Red walked a little faster. He didn’t like how uncomfortable he suddenly felt in his own hometown. He had no reason to, after all, he was still the official champion. But when he went through the abandoned part of Pallet, he still felt like something wasn’t right. The handcarts sounded way too loud in his ears, like they were yelling “Hey, if you want to attack someone, this guy is the perfect target!”

Just in case, he put his hand on pikachu’s pokéball. If anyone was planning to ambush him for whatever reason, they would get electrocuted. He felt ridiculous because after all, this was _Pallet,_ the most peaceful town in this region, but he couldn’t shake this feeling off.

He walked slower when he saw a man in the middle of the road all of a sudden with his back turned to him. He was on his phone, which relieved Red, but he kept his hand on the pokéball like it was a weapon und tried to be as quiet as possible when he walked past him. Which was pretty much impossible because of the damn handcarts.

The man was tall, v _ery_ tall. Broad shoulders, black clothes. Definitely not the type of person you see around here.

“Yes,” he said into the phone with a deep, quiet voice. “Already here… when will the rest-…okay… I did that already. No, nothing’s changed. I couldn’t find out-.”

Suddenly, the man put the phone down and looked directly at Red, who thought he was going to have a heart attack. “Hey!”, the man snapped. “Didn’t your mom teach you that it’s rude to listen to private conversations?”

Red hadn’t even noticed that he had walked unintentionally slower to hear what he was talking about, and he felt the blood rush to his ears in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” he mumbled and spun around to continue his way. But to his horror, he heard the man say “I’ll call you back.”

He tried to walk faster, but the man yelled after him: “Hey you! Wait a second, I know you!”

Red flinched and stopped dead in his tracks. _Oh god, no. Please don’t tell me he recognized me._

His breathing got faster as he turned around and realized that the man was standing closer to him than a few moments ago. Now he also saw that he had six pokéballs on his belt.

Red was Kanto’s champion, but he was aware that this didn’t make him the most powerful trainer on earth. Suddenly, he felt like the temperature had dropped a few degrees. Something in this man’s eyes made him uncomfortable.

He wasn’t easily scared, so he figured that when he actually _did_ get creeped out, things had to be pretty serious. His hand painfully clenched around pikachu’s pokéball.

“You’re the Oak kid’s friend, right? I saw you hang out with him today.”

Red sighed a breath of relief only to be tense again at the new realization. What did this guy have to do with Green?

“Maybe?”

The man smiled as if he was a meowth playing with its prey. “Pretty famous guy, eh?”

“What do you want?”, Red asked, glad that his voice sounded steady.

The guy shrugged; a gesture that seemed way too casual and out of place for this formal looking giant.

“I’m just curious. I’ve never seen you around here and yet you managed to make friends with someone from the famous Oak family in such a short amount of time. Pretty big achievement, how did you do that? Especially looking the way you do.”

“Do I need to justify myself? Who the hell do you think you are?”, Red shot back.

The anger in his voice helped him forget his fear.

The man raised his hands in a mockingly apologetic way. “Whoa there, calm down. As I said, I’m just curious.”

“Well, it’s none of your business,” Red said sternly, hoping that this guy would finally leave him alone. But of course, he didn’t.

“I’m a big fan of professor Oak, you know,” the man said as if he hadn’t heard Red. “That man has revolutionized the way we think about pokémon, hasn’t he?”

“I don’t know where you’re going with this,” Red said. “But I do know where _I’m_ going right now. Have a good night.”

The man grabbed Red’s arm as he turned around, the one he would have used to call out his pokémon.

Inwardly, he was freaking out by now, but on the outside, he tried to control himself, even as he saw the creepy smile back on the man’s face. “Friendship is important, don’t you think?” He let go of Red’s arm. “Value yours with Mr. Oak. It is _such_ a privilege.”

He gave a very disturbed Red a pat on the back, and then, still looking at him, he took his phone back out, dialed someone up and only turned his gaze away when the other person seemed to have answered. His whole mannerism changed in the blink of an eye as he cheerfully said: “Hello? Yes, it’s me again. Now, as I said before… _hey,_ you can get lost now, kid!”

Red didn’t need to be told twice. He practically ran back home, the guy’s creepy smile burned into his memory the entire time.

On the whole way, he kept looking over his back, always with the feeling of being watched by the cold pair of eyes.

Only when he was finally at his door, he allowed himself to relax a little. But then, when put the handcarts back into the garage, he realized that Green was still out there, and for the second time tonight, he thought he was going to have a heart attack. With shaking hands, he fished his phone out of his pocket and searched for Green in his contacts. Back on MT. Silver, he hadn’t needed his phone and considered throwing it off the cliff several times, but now he was glad that he hadn’t.

He had to scroll down pretty far to find Green in his contacts, which only reminded him what a bad friend he had been. The last message Green had written him had been about two months after he disappeared: “Hope you’re not dead.”

Green’s way of saying he was worried.

The guilt was eating Red, but he had to ignore it for now.

“where r u”  
  
Usually he didn’t like these pointless abbreviations, but his fingers were shaking so much and he felt like he had so little time that he was glad they existed right now.

After he hit “Send”, he waited five antagonizing minutes until finally, the two ticks turned blue and the phone informed him that “Green is writing”.

Then the answer came. “Red, welcome back! Haven’t seen your name in my phone for a while lmao”

Red rolled his eyes into another dimension. “WHERE R U”

The answer came faster this time. “Lol. Why are you writing like that? You okay?”

“Where. Are. You?”, Red repeated.

“On my way home. Why?”

“Yeah, but like, where _are_ you?”

“What’s wrong…?”

Red wanted to throw his phone on the ground in frustration. Sometimes he hated Green.

“Ffs, Green. Where tf are you?!”

“Um. Market Place. Red, wth is wrong? You're freaking me out.”

Red breathed a sigh of relief. The Market Place wasn’t far from Red’s and Green’s house, and it was way past the abandoned part of Pallet where the creepy guy had been. Green must have taken a circuit.

“Nothing. Be careful. Please write a message when you’re home.”

“Lol. K, mom. I demand an explanation tomorrow.”

“Whatever.”

The tension finally ceased, but he was still agitated when he opened the door. He was so lost in his thoughts that he wondered for a second why his mom seemed so angry.

“Red, are you _serious?”,_ she hissed. “It’s half past twelve! Where were you? And _why_ are you wearing my practice wig?”

He quickly took it off along with the sunglasses. “Sorry, didn’t want to be recognized…”, he mumbled. “I was here with Green and wanted to tell you that I’m staying out with him a little longer, but you weren’t there.”

“Letters. Have you heard of them? You take a piece of paper and use a tool of your choice to put words on them. Some people prefer pencils, some people like crayons. Anything that does the job, really. And the words you can write could be, I don’t know, _Hey, mom, don’t worry, I didn’t run off to MT. Silver again and I’ll be back this evening.”_

Red felt the blood rush to his ears. This morning, he had wondered how he could ever make up for what he did to his mother and now he had made it worse.

“Sorry…I didn’t think of it…Green was…”

“How is Green?”, Delia asked, still angry. Red blinked, surprised at the sudden change of topics.

“I don’t know, pretty down. Something happened at the lab apparently. He didn’t want to talk about it though. Why?”

Delia sighed. “If he didn’t want to talk about it, it’s not my place to tell you.”

Red pricked up his ears. What was going on with Green? Why did his mother know and he didn’t?

“Come on, please!”

“You aren’t really in the position to ask for favors right now, Red.” She supported her head with her hands and massaged her temples while tiredly blinking. “I was worried sick. You _promised_ me not to pull anything like this again.”

“Mom…”

“Just take that gross potato stew upstairs with you and go to bed, please.”          

Red so badly wanted to tell her about his encounter with the man; not only to soothe her anger, but also to process what just happened. But he knew that would just freak her out even more and she wouldn’t let him leave the house ever again, so he just sighed, put some cold potato stew on his plate and plodded upstairs. Then, for the first time in three years, he felt a soft bed under his body, and it felt so wonderful that Red wished today hadn’t happened just so he could enjoy this feeling of absolute bliss more. However, there were still too many thoughts fighting for his attention. His mom, Green, professor Oak, the creepy guy, his new environment far away from the mountain that had become his home…was it possible to feel homesick for a mountain?

He closed his eyes for a second, the smell of the now cold potato stew insulting his nose, and imagined going back to MT. Silver. Green would visit him every day just like he used to, and Red would visit his mom. Eventually, Green would spend the nights with him, and while he kept Red company, Red would keep him warm. Professor Oak would be nothing but an uncomfortable thought anymore, and Green would finally be able to heal. Red wouldn’t ever have to worry about disappointing people again, or the media. Everything would be perfect.

He sighed into his pillow. It was a nice fantasy, but painfully unrealistic. And upon realizing that, all the other thoughts together with his mom’s harsh voice came back into his conscience. When finally his phone vibrated and he saw Green’s message: “Home now. Gn”, he closed his eyes and vowed to never open them again.

_Tomorrow is a new day._


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a longer chapter and it may won't be that interesting, but I had fun writing it, hope you enjoy it too! As always, thank you guys so much for reading this mess!

“Greeeeen.”

Someone shook his shoulder. Green groaned and turned away from the voice that was way too shrill and way too loud in these early hours.

“Greeeen. Wake up, baby.”

He groaned again, this time because even his sleep-drunk mind knew that only one person in the entire world called him baby, and that person was _not_ welcome here.

“Out,” he mumbled into his pillow, but the woman just giggled. One second later, a sweet scent reached his nostrils.

“Still not a morning person, eh? Just like when you were little. Here, maybe this can change your mind! I made pancakes for you!”

With one swift movement, still not bothering to sit up or look at her, Green slapped the plate out of her hands. With a loud clatter, it landed on the ground. The woman gasped and jumped back.

_“Young man!”_

He didn’t react because she had lost the privilege of calling him that long ago.  
She then sighed like she was carrying all evil on her shoulders, and, to his dismay, sat down on the edge of his bed to put a hand on his shoulder. It made him feel icky, so he sharply shrugged it off. She didn’t get the hint and put it on his back instead, softly stroking him like a growlith. It disgusted him, but his small bed didn’t allow him to back away even more.

“We didn’t get off to a good start,” she said. “But I’m _trying_ here, Green.”

He mumbled something into his pillow.

“What was that?”

“I said,” he repeated, this time finally looking at her, “I didn’t _ask_ you to try. So stop acting like I owe you something, or like I’m supposed to be grateful.”

She tried to say something, but he sat up and cut her off. “Also, you wouldn’t even _have_ to try if you hadn’t ruined everything to begin with. And now you’re trying to fix what you did with _pancakes._ How long did they take you to make? Twenty, twenty-five minutes? Well, come back if you have a pancake that you’ve worked on for _twelve years.”_

He lay down again with his back turned to her.

She sighed again. “I don’t think you’re being fair, Green. You didn’t make much of an effort to see _me_ either.”

Green couldn’t believe what he heard. For a second, he was so disgusted that he couldn’t get a word out. Then he said: “I’m sorry, was _I_ the one who walked out of _your_ life? Didn’t think so. Reaching out was _your_ responsibility, being the adult and all. Or did you expect me and Daisy to chase after you to make you feel important? Is that what you wanted?”

“I didn’t ‘walk out of your life’, Green, I was in jail. There was no way I could have visited you.”

“Only you would think ‘I was in jail’ is a good defense,” Green sarcastically said. “Fact is, you were in jail for five years. There was _plenty_ of time to come by after that. You know, when I was a kid and actually still needed you. And when _Daisy_ was a teenager and basically had to raise me. Well, surprise, Liz: Daisy and I are both adults now. You’re redundant here.”

“Don’t you _dare_ call me Liz! I’m your mother, for Aceus’ sake.”

“That’s your only takeaway?”

“You’re not even _trying_ to under- “

A sharp hiss suddenly came from underneath Green’s blanket, and a brown little furball shot out. Evee had taken her time to get upset this time, but now she stood protectively between Green’s mom and him.

“It’s alright, Evee,” Green said while petting her head. “She was just about to leave anyway.”

Liz huffed. “I know I made a mistake, Green. But you can’t be bitter about that for the rest of your life. I can’t go back in time and change what I did; all I can do is apologize.”

“Exactly,” Green said firmly, holding eye-contact. “That’s the problem.”

He could tell she wanted to respond, but didn’t know how. She stood there for a while, just staring at him- he could feel it without having to look back. The silence spoke all the words for the both of them. Then he finally heard the rustling of clothing, followed by her quiet steps as she stood up from the bed and left the room, softly shutting the door behind her.  

He took a deep breath. Some things never changed. Just as he did back then, he still felt guilty whenever she suddenly stopped arguing and just left after he said something she didn’t have an answer to. It just felt so wrong, silencing his mother like that.

That’s not how things were supposed to be.

“Evee?”, the little pokémon said sadly, nuzzling his shoulder.

He smiled and turned around to her. “Don’t worry, girl. I’m fine.” That was a blatant lie.

“Evee.” She didn’t believe him and gave him this stern look he was already used to. Yet again he was fascinated by how empathetic and intelligent she was. In moments like these, he could actually understand why his grandfather had preferred studying pokémon over spending time with his grandkids.

Suddenly he thought of Daisy and remembered that she probably didn’t even know that their mom was back. He had forgotten how much he missed his older sister, but his throat was getting tighter at the thought of calling her; he hadn’t talked to her in at least ten months after all, and either she had better things to do than answer him, or she would be rightfully upset because he never called. The only contact they had had was over text every now and then. Not telling her at all was not an option though.

 _Ah, come on,_ he thought. _Calling your sister shouldn’t be hard._

There was a tiny part of him that was scared of the rejection. He hated how insecure he was, even around family.

“Evee?”, the small pokémon said.

He audibly exhaled and ruffled Evee’s fur again. “Your trainer is a coward, Evee.”

_“Evee.”_

“I should really call Daisy, huh?”

“Evee.”

“Do you think she’ll be mad?”

Evee nodded. “Evee!”

“Goddamnit.” Green grabbed his phone and opened whatsapp. His conversation with Red last night jumped into his eyes, and curiously, he read over his texts again. He didn’t know if he did this to procrastinate calling Daisy or because it just felt so good receiving messages from Red again. It was a reminder that Red actually thought of him, and that Green wasn’t totally all the same to him. Although the messages last night had been weird. Red usually wrote like an old man. With full sentences and full stops and no smileys. He couldn’t wait to hear what had bothered him so much yesterday.

_“EVEE!”_

“Huh? Alright, alright, jeeze, I’m already calling her!” He showed Evee how he exited the conversation and clicked on his messages with Daisy. As always, he chose the option to video call. He hated talking to people whose faces he couldn’t see.

For a while, it just tooted, and Green’s grasp around the phone got firmer as he secretly hoped she wouldn’t pick up. As he was just about to end the call, her face suddenly appeared. It took his breath away for a second. Last time he had seen her- one year ago maybe, one and a half?, her hair had been shorter, and she had looked so tired, but right now, her skin was tan and glowing, her hair was long and silky, and her eyes were attentive and shining with excitement, although she was wearing a stunned expression right now.

_“Green?!”_

“Hey…,” he said with a brittle voice and a nervous smile.

“I haven’t heard from you in so long, oh my god!” She was covering her mouth with both hands in surprise. “Look at you! Definitely not my _kid_ -brother anymore, huh? The girls must be running your door in! How _are_ you? I missed you! Why don’t you ever answer your phone, you mean guy? I was worried, you know!”

“Sorry…I ignore my phone most of the time because it’s mostly gramps who calls or texts me.”

“Then why didn’t _you_ call _me?_ You’re my brother, I want to know what’s going on in your life, Mister!”

“I…sorry, I…”

“No, no, it’s okay.” She gave him a reassuring, warm smile. “I know you’re busy. Being a Gym Leader is a big responsibility! At least you called now. Sorry, I didn’t give you the chance to answer the ‘How-are-you-question.’ Although I can probably answer that myself. You look tired. And thin. And you’re calling me, so _something_ must have happened. Green, is everything okay? Are you eating enough? Getting enough sleep?”

She looked at him with so much worry that she looked more like a mother than his real mom ever had. It made Green sad and guilty that she had been forced into that role for so long and never quite got rid of it. He knew that this was also the reason why she, even though she was such a kind and motherly person, absolutely never wanted to have children.

He nodded quickly. “Yeah, of course! Don’t worry about me, Daisy, you’re on vacation! You should enjoy it.”

“Well, _something_ is bothering you. I can see that. You have that look on your face, like something really bad just happened.”

He sighed. “Well, yeah. Guess who came by at the lab yesterday with absolutely no warning whatsoever?”

She gasped. _“Red?!_ Is he back? But Green, that’s great! I’m so happy for you, I know how much you missed him! Why is that bad news?”

“What? No, that’s not… I mean, he _is,_ but…”

“Really?! I was just guessing, but this is awesome! Now you guys can spend time together again, just like back in the day when you were kids!”

“Don’t tell anyone, okay? Not even Bill!”

“Green?”, someone called from outside, and the young man rolled his eyes. His grandfather, who had just appeared in the doorway, had splendid timing, as always. “What did I hear just now? Red is back?”

“No, gramps.”

“But I clearly just heard you say he’s back.”

“Green, those are awesome news!”, Daisy beamed.

He wanted to scream in frustration.

“I knew that Jack-kid looked familiar. You know, for a second I was disappointed that you would surround yourself with people who look like that, but the more I thought about it…”

“You can’t tell _anyone!”_

“So it’s actually true!” A real smile formed itself on the old man’s face. Smiles from professor Oak were rare. “He’s really back! Kanto’s Champion is finally back! I can’t believe it!”

Then, in the blink of an eye, his face got reproachful. “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“Gramps, did you hear me? Do not tell anyone! And I mean _anyone._ That includes _her._ ” He spat the last word out like it was an illness.

 “Oh, I wouldn’t dare. The boy needs rest. Tell him to come over, I want to see him with my own two eyes!”

“Gramps, don’t say that. It sounds creepy.”

“I just want to see how he’s doing. He’s basically family.”

“Opposed to the family you already have, of course,” Green deadpanned.

“Precisely.”

Green groaned. His grandfather did not get sarcasm.

“Wait, who is ‘her’?”, Daisy asked suspiciously.

“’Her’ is the actual news,” Green answered and signed for his grandfather to leave. Oak still had that stupid smile on his face, as if his son had just returned home, and turned around like he was walking on clouds (“The boy is back. He’s really back! Incredible!”). Clearly he had come here just to scold Green for talking back to his mother, but that was forgotten. Green made a mental note to warn Red once he ended the call with Daisy.  

“Actual news? What could be bigger than Kanto’s prodigy returning, who just happens to be my kid-brother’s not-so-secret crush?” She winked, and Green felt the blood run to his cheeks and ears.

“Hush! Don’t try to deny it.” She grinned. “We haven’t talked a lot lately, but whenever we do, all you talk about is Red. And you always get that dreamy face when you do.”

Green cursed himself. He _really_ needed to pay more attention to what he said.

“I’m not gay, Daisy,” he said, matter of factly, but he didn’t sound fully convinced himself.

“You don’t have to deny or confirm it.” She still smiled. “Just know that if you were, that would be okay. It’s really important that you always remember that you’re perfect the way you are, okay? I feel like sometimes you forget that.”

He bit his lip and felt unexpected tears in his eyes. Daisy was the only one who told him that he mattered, and who loved him unconditionally, and she was also the one he never called up.

Red’s mother had given him love and affection too, but with her, it always felt so…transient. Like she would eventually just get tired of him if he didn’t try hard enough, and like she just did it because she knew Green needed it.

He cleared his throat. “The reason why I called you,” he said, quickly changing the subject while trying his best to make his voice sound manly, opposed to the sobs that were trying to come out, “is that someone else is back. Hold on to your hat, you won’t believe it!”

“Don’t keep me in suspense, who is it?”

“Who has spent five years in prison and hasn’t gotten in touch with her kids _once_ in the remaining six years?”

The disbelieving gasp of air and the shocked expression Green had been expecting didn’t happen. To his surprise, Daisy looked annoyed and mildly upset. “Seriously? I _told_ her not to come! And to _call_ me if she did! This is so typical!”

Green almost dropped his phone. “You… _what?_ You are in touch with her? And you didn’t _tell_ me?”

Daisy sighed. “She called me up about three months ago. And she was in really bad shape, too… I couldn’t just hang up on her, who knows what she would have done.”

“Go on.”

“Well, and then we just…talked. She cried a lot and apologized over and over again. And…I don’t know…I felt bad. I was still angry, but I wanted to give her a chance. She seemed so…broken. Ever since that call, we’ve been keeping casual contact.”

To say Green felt betrayed and deceived was an understatement. It was like his beloved sister and his stupid mother had met behind his back to plot against him. Everyone had known she was back. Everyone but him.  
And no one had bothered to tell him.

“Green, please understand. I wasn’t trying to exclude you, I was trying to protect you. Mom wanted to reach out to you too. Actually, she was more desperate for that than for anything, and I feel like she only got in touch with me to get information about you. For the entire three hours that we talked, the only subject she kept bringing up was you. You were always her favorite. And that’s fine!”, she quickly said. “I was difficult back then and didn’t exactly make things easier for her. Anyway, I talked to gramps, and we both agreed not to tell you. You were so depressed after she was gone the first time, it hit you harder than anyone else. I didn’t want to see you like that for a second time. I told her that I didn’t want her to just walk back into your life if she didn’t have hers together. I wanted her to be absolutely sure that she wouldn’t disappoint you ever again. And I wanted her to call me before she did it so I could be in Pallet when it happens.”

Green still didn’t say anything. His mouth was hanging open.

Daisy continued. “I wanted _her_ to reach out to you. She messed up, and I wanted her to own up to it instead of hiding behind me. But now…” Daisy shook her head. “Now she dropped a nuke onto your life without informing anyone. And knowing gramps, he probably didn’t make it easier for you. Oh, Green, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

Green felt an alien pang of annoyance at his sister. Just how fragile did she think he was? He wasn’t a child anymore; she didn’t need to protect him. And why did she think she had the right to withhold such vital information from her _adult brother?_ What else wasn’t she telling him? Was their dad back, too? Was their grandfather part of the mafia?

His hands balled into fists.

But he could never be mean to Daisy, not in a million years. He took a deep breath to collect himself, then he calmly said “Hope to hear from you soon. Enjoy the rest of your vacation. And greet Bill from me.”

“Green!”

He smiled at her. “Hope we can talk again soon. I have to go now.”

“Gree-“

He hung up.

“Evee?” The small pokémon rubbed her head against his shoulder. He pet her absentmindedly.

“You’d never lie to me, right?”, he mumbled. He had stopped feeling crazy about talking to his pokémon a long time ago.

She playfully bumped her head into his chest. _Never in a million years._

He smiled and buried his nose in her fur. “You know what? I do regret how I was a dick to Red back in the day. But one thing I don’t regret is being a dick to him when it came to choosing our first pokémon. Because then I would have gotten pikachu, and Red would have gotten you.”

“Evee!” She made a disgusted face. Green laughed; Evee _really_ did not like Red and pikachu. Which was hilarious to him because _all_ pokémon liked Red.

“Now, let’s go kick this idiot out of his bed! School’s starting!”

* * *

Three things woke Red up at the same time: first, his mom calling him from downstairs. Second, his phone vibrating on his table in a way that sounded like a giant bug was trapped under a piece of paper. And third, a headache that was too slight to be really painful, but still strong enough to be a pain in the ass. He flinched at all these sounds and impressions like he was being attacked, and for a second, he actually thought he was. After all, there was no mom calling him and no phone announcing new messages on MT. Silver. Then he saw where he actually was, and he felt a sense of happiness run through his chest. A fleeting one, because yesterday still wasn’t forgotten.

“Yeah?”, he called back at his mom with a drowsy voice while mechanically reaching for his phone.

“Are you gonna get up? It’s eight AM!”

He sighed. That was his mother through and through; she wasn’t going to let him get away with slacking off now, despite the fact that he just arrived home and didn’t actually have much to do.

 _Except being a Champion, of course,_ he reminded himself, and the pathetic rest of his initial happiness went away.

“Already on it!”, he called back.

He sat up and stretched, then he finally took a look at his phone. It was a message from Green.

“Gramps and Daisy know. Soz”

Red rolled his eyes; Green _really_ needed to learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes. That professor Oak knew about his comeback didn’t bother him; in a way, he was actually relieved. After all, he had been planning to visit him anyway, and now that he already knew, maybe his reaction wouldn’t be too hefty. Daisy was still okay, too, he trusted her. But what if Green accidentally told anyone else?

“You suck,” he wrote back. “Also, how much time did you save by typing ‘soz’ instead of ‘sorry’?”

“Gonna pick you up in fifteen minutes,” Green wrote back, ignoring Red’s little jab. “Be ready, we’re going to school”

 _Oh!_ Red had completely forgotten about that, but now that he remembered it, his excitement came back. Green and teacher; these two words just didn’t go together in his head. He couldn’t wait to see that and convince himself that it was actually true.

Practically jumping out of his bed, he quickly went to the bathroom to get ready.

As he reached for the blonde wig, his gaze fell to the mirror, and when his heart lurched at what he saw, he realized that he hadn’t actually seen his own face in three whole years.

Almost reverently, he stepped closer to take a better look. His eyes were still chocolate brown, just like his mother’s, but that was about the only thing that had stayed the same. He was looking at a stranger. His face was slimmer and a bit more chiseled than it used to be. His hair had gotten a little longer and looked like Pikachu had used up any and all of his electric attacks on him. His eyebrows were thicker, and his eyes had a spark of determination in them that he swore hadn’t been there before. A patchy, stubbly beard was growing on his cheeks, and while he had always felt it there with his hands, seeing it made him wonder how in the world Green had let him get away with looking like this.

His eyes went lower. His shoulders had gotten broader, and he had definitely grown a few inches. His chest and arms looked more defined than they used to. He used to be a skinny kid with absolutely no muscle mass, but the training on MT. Silver had obviously not just benefitted his pokémon. When his gaze fell on his right shoulder, he winced. The scar was still there, and it looked bigger and uglier than he remembered it.

For a few moments, he just stared at it while the memories came rushing back, causing him to steady himself on the sink as his stomach started to hurt and the scar started to itch. He could still basically feel scyther ripping his skin apart while grown adults just watched and laughed. Frantically, he took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Each breath he took became deeper and longer, and eventually, he felt himself relaxing.

In the back of his mind, he was aware that the paparrazzi weren't the only ones he had been hiding from. He forced himself to snap out of it. Today, a new life was about to begin, he decided. MT. Silver had erased his past and his memories, it had erased everything that had been bothering him. He was over this. He was. No, really, he swore he was! He closed his eyes and then opened one of them again to look back at the scar, and immediately, he shut it again as his chest painfully contracted.

Blindly, he reached for the black shirt that he knew was hanging over towel rail and put it on so he didn't have to see it anymore.

Okay, so maybe he wasn't over it. So what? Unlike Green (stupid Green) he would work it out. He could fix his problems whenever he wanted to.

And the first problem he was going to fix now was the terrible stubble. He went for the little cabinet where he had kept his cosmetic stuff, which had been a tiny amount compared to what his mother owned, and an even tinier amount compared to what Green owned. Relieved, he saw that his mom hadn’t touched a thing. Everything was still there; his razor that he had bought just in case he finally grew a beard- he never did-, his shaving cream, and his deodorant. After slapping a good amount of cream on his face, he carefully went over his skin with his razor, and in this moment he realized that he was shaving for the first time in his life, and that his father had never gotten the chance to show him how it worked. He still somehow managed to get it done with no cuts. As he looked into the mirror now, he looked even more amazed. If he thought about it, he wasn't that bad-looking. He could have stood there forever because he still just couldn't believe that this was actually _him._

Without looking away, he grabbed a plain blue cap instead of his trademark fisherman’s cap that his father had given him and a pair of sunglasses and quickly put both things on. When he reached for his mom's practice wig, he hesitated and finally just left it there. He looked different enough as it was, and he didn't want to conceal himself that much now that he had seen himself. It felt like he was trying to hide away who he was, and he had been doing that for way too long, to a point where he didn't even know who he was anymore. Was he Red? Was he Jack? Was he the Champion of Kanto? He didn't think he was all three of them.

When he came out of the room, his mom was sitting at the table already, drinking her coffee and brightly smiling at him. He was relieved, yet slightly surprised to see her in such a good mood again.

“Good morning!”, she beamed.

“Morning,” he mumbled with another yawn.

Without a warning or a reason to, his mom got up from her chair and hugged him tightly.

“When I woke up today, I was convinced that yesterday was a dream,” she said when she let him go and sat back at the table “Call me creepy, but I came into your room quite a few times last night just to make sure you were still there. It looked adorable, the way you slept with your pokéballs in your arms like you were scared someone could steal them.”

She giggled and Red awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“I’m not leaving,” he promised.

“I trust you on that. Because _I_ know that _you_ know that I will search every corner of Kanto for you if you do, and that includes MT. Silver. And then, dear, not even your pokémon can save you anymore.” She casually took a sip of her coffee as if she had just been talking about the weather. “So, you look like you’re on your way out. Did you forget that you’re grounded?”

She laughed humorlessly at his expression. “It’s okay. The grounding was a joke anyway; you’re an adult now, there’s not much I can tell you to do anymore. But I can still beat your sorry behind if you do what you did yesterday again, and I _swear to god,_ Red, I will actually do it. I was _worried."_ Her face got serious. "Really, Red, it's bad enough to lose your child once. I don't want to imagine what losing you again would feel like, and frankly, I'm going to go crazy if I spend _one_ more minute picturing you running of to that damned mountain again. Please, Red, don't come too late, even if it's just a minute. To me it's so much more than that."

“I won’t do it again, seriously!”, Red quickly said. He felt bad for making her feel this way after everything she had been going through. “I’m sorry…I’ll have my phone with me the whole time!”

She frowned. “That thing still works?”

Red shrugged. “Never used it on MT. Silver.”

“Okay, then. Don’t you dare not answer! I’m serious, Red!”

“Promised!”

“Good. Where are you going today?”

“Green invited me to one of his lectures.”

“Oh! Interesting. I heard he’s one of the most popular teachers; his school had more appliances than all schools in Kanto put together.”

Red smirked. “Did _he_ tell you that?”

“Who else if not him?” She laughed, then glanced at him as she was about to take another sip. “Do you need my wig again?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, no. I just realized that the last time people saw me, I was seventeen, and I looked pretty different back then. I doubt anyone will know who I am if they can’t even see my whole face. No wig needed anymore.”

She nodded. “You look way better without it.” Then she sternly raised her pointer. “Be back in time today, young man. I mean it. At three PM, Green and Professor Oak are coming over for dinner.”

Her expression suddenly changed as she took a closer look at him. “Hey, are you okay, dear? You look a little pale.”

Surprised, he shook his head. “Just a little tired. And a tiny headache.”

She nodded sympathetically. “Lots of things are changing for you right now, that must be a lot of stress. Don’t overdo it!”

“I don’t usually overdo things.”

“Three years, Red.”

“Except that.”

He was glad that the doorbell rang now because he felt like this was a crucial moment: the moment where he had to realize that his mother would never ever stop bringing up these three years and that it would never ever stop making him uncomfortable.

He opened the door, and without a Hello, Green- this time dressed in a black sports jacket and beige pants- immediately gave him the once-over.

“You look acceptable,” he decided. “Still a disaster, but it works better than the wig. Might be a little risky, though. I have some die-hard Red fanboys in my class.”

“Seriously?” Red shook his head. “Some people really need a hobby.”

“Bye, Red! Bye, Green! Take care, you two!”, his mom called behind him.

“Thanks, you too!”, Green called back and Red waved her goodbye before closing the door. “She’s in a good mood today, huh?”

“I know. Weird, right?”

Green shrugged and looked at the ground. “Everything is weird right now.”

He didn’t elaborate, and Red so badly wanted to ask him about it; his friend had this look on his face again, this omnipresent sadness that he couldn’t quite hide. He always had this expression when something just happened. But he knew if he asked now, Green would tell him to get lost, and he didn’t want to urge him.

“So, are you going to tell me what your texts yesterday were about?”

“Oh yeah, that. There was this weird guy who asked for you. He wanted me to tell him about you, and he grabbed my arm and stuff. Gave me the creeps. I was worried he might hurt you or something. You’re the one he was interested in, after all.”

Green sighed dramatically. “These fans are getting crazier and crazier.”

“I don’t think he was a fan, Green. He was just so…odd. Dressed in all black, really tall…”

Red was astounded when Green just shrugged at all of this information. “Whatever. I’ve met people who were way worse than that. One time, some middle-aged guy wanted to lick my feet.”

“Did you let him?”

“Oh, shut it, Red.”

“Green, seriously, you shouldn’t ignore that! There was something in that man’s eyes… I think he’s a little more than just ‘some weird guy’.”

“Huh,” Green just said and shrugged again. Red waited for more, but apparently, this had been Green’s way to end the conversation. All he could do was shake his head. Green had always been reckless, feigning fortitude. But he was also very smart. He usually knew when it was time to get worried and what to take seriously. That he was so careless when it came to his own safety made him upset. First he let his window wide open at night so anyone with a flying type could easily enter his home, then he didn’t care about some creep who was apparently interested in him for god knows what reason.

Again, the urge to shake some sense into this stubborn git overcame Red. What was with him lately?  
  
“You can mentally murder me all you want, Red, but we’re going to be late,” Green said with an unbothered voice.

Red sighed, frustrated. Arguing with Green was and had always been pointless. He would have to catch another good moment. Begrudgingly, he reached for charizard’s pokéball. Green however stopped him and shook his head.

“You shouldn’t do that. Remember, you don’t have a license for pokémon as big and dangerous as charizard.”

“That wasn’t a problem when we came here, though…”

“It was, we were just inexcusably negligent. You could be recognized, or you could lose your pokémon until you do get a license, or both.” He grinned all of a sudden and cocked his head. “You know, for someone who wants to stay undercover, you sure like to make a big show.”

“I do not.”

“Okay, then this won’t be a problem.” Green casually threw a pokéball. “Let’s hop on _my_ charizard.”

Green was already climbing on his dragon’s back. Red had to admit that he was right, but the thought that he wasn’t allowed to use his own pokémon anymore didn’t sit well with him. He didn’t like to be passive, or something being out of his control.

Hesitantly, he climbed behind Green. He didn’t need to see the other man’s face to know that his eyes were full of mischief. Before he had even really settled, Green gave charizard the command to start, and suddenly, Red felt a jolt run through his entire body that almost threw him off charizard’s back while the houses of Pallet Town got smaller and smaller.

Quickly, put his arms around Green’s chest to steady himself.

“Not cool!”, he yelled against the wind.

He felt Green’s chest leap up and down as he laughed. “Is Kanto’s champion _scared?”_

“Not scared! Just startled! I could have fallen off!”

“I know! Charizard would have caught you if you did though! Honestly, I was kinda hoping to see that, but whatever!”

Charizard decided to be a jerk at this moment and made a looping. Red usually loved these kinds of shenanigans, but not when he didn’t have anything to hold on to. He was used to sitting in the front, by himself. Well, then, Green had to deal with Red holding onto _him_ for dear life. He breathed in the familiar, fresh scent of his deodorant, void of the sharp stench of cigarettes this time. It reminded him that this was _Green,_ his childhood friend and rival, and that Green, while inexcusably reckless with his own life, had a high sense of responsibility when it came to others. It calmed him down, made him realize that this wasn’t actually a dangerous situation because both, him and Green, were incredibly skilled when it came to situations like these. The initial shock and vertigo subsided, and Red finally started to feel more secure.

Only now that the fear of falling was gone, he realized how close he was to Green. He felt his heartbeat under his hands, fast and strong in his excitement. And he heard Green’s carefree laugh, like a child on a rollercoaster. Red had to admit that sharing a pokémon to fly had its own special appeal. At the same time, he was aware that he wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much if he had to share a pokémon with anyone but Green. Deep down he knew that if he was clinging to a girl right now, or even another cute guy, he’d be annoyed.

He didn’t know what to make of this new realization, but right now was probably the wrong moment to grapple with the complicated feelings he had for Green anyway. He shook it off for now, deciding to live in the moment as he breathed Green in and paid attention to his warmth, and to his steady, rhythmic heartbeat and breathing.

When they finally landed, he punched the other man on the shoulder. “You’re a jerk,” he scolded.

“Hey, I still needed to take _some_ revenge for these three years. You knew it was gonna come eventually.” Green winked. “By the way, you can let go of me now.”

“Oh.” Red quickly backed off and made his way down charizard’s back.

Green jumped off and landed next to him. “Thanks, charizard! Take a little rest!”

The huge dragon growled ins response and nuzzled Green with his snout before he disappeared in his pokéball.

Red looked at his surroundings. Veridian City hadn’t changed a bit since back then. Outwardly at least. When he looked closer the crowd of people however, the same feeling he’d had in Pallet last night came back. The feeling that something wasn’t right.

He felt shivers run down his spine and looked at Green to see if his friend was feeling the same way, but he seemed unbothered, talking about stuff that Red hadn’t been listening to again.

Then he saw them; people, all of them dressed in dark clothes. They were just…standing there. Looking straight ahead. They weren’t really noticeable, they were just…there, in the crowd. He elbowed Green, who stopped his monologue for a second to give him a confused look. “Huh?”

“Who are those people?”, Red whispered.

Green looked around, then he shrugged. “They’re just people, Red. Whatever.”

“This is giving me Saffron City flashbacks,” Red admitted.

“Hm,” was all Green had to say about that. The one time Red wanted him to talk, all he got was a “Hm”.

He rolled his eyes; sometimes he didn’t understand his friend. Silently they walked next to each other, until Green announced: “We’re here! Remember this?”

Red looked up, and yes, he remembered. He remembered the bland white walls and the schoolyard that was actually just a parking lot, and he remembered the small classrooms with basically no decorations and the underpaid teachers who had obviously chosen the wrong job.

The school had a bad reputation ever since Red exposed Giovanni as the head of Team Rocket. That Green managed to attract 3800 students after that fiasco actually amazed him.

He shuddered. A very clear memory of Giovanni as a teacher formed itself in his head, and how he had looked up to him back then. Everyone had loved him. He was his favorite teacher, and he knew that he and Green were two of his favorite students. Idly, he wondered what it said about him that the boss of the world’s most dangerous organization had chosen him as his favorite.

Then again, he really still couldn’t imagine that his patient teacher with the warm eyes and the passion for pokémon and battling was the same man who had coldly and contemptuously looked down at a wounded Red and just left him there to die, not even with the decency to give him a quick and easy death. Red felt a long-forgotten sense of panic run through his chest. He hadn’t thought about what had happened in the Silph Co. building for at least two years, and now it hit him full force. He felt the punches, the pokémon attacks, and his wet shirt, sticking to his body because of all the blood his pokémon had lost on the floor. He saw the desperate, broken eyes of charizard, who had still been a charmeleon back then. He heard the laughing and the hooting, and the anguished cries of his companions.

“Hey.” He felt a hand on his shoulder, the one where he was still wearing a scar. Startled, he flinched for a second, then he looked up and saw Green’s soft face, and his breathing normalized itself. Only now he realized that his hands were balled into fists and that he had fiercely looked at the ground like he was angry at it. “Giovanni isn’t here anymore. _I’m_ here. And I promise, I’m not part of an evil organization.”

Red smiled. “If you were, I’d easily stomp you to the ground.”

Green smiled back. He looked relieved, and Red was never happier to have him here.

“In this instance, I’d hope you would. Ready to go inside? And remember, there’s also _good_ memories!”

Red frowned. “Like the one where you and the others made fun of me because you knew _so_ much more about pokémon?”

“Aaaaaand the one where you totally beat our asses in the battles afterwards.”

“You’re right, that was pretty satisfying.”

“See? Alright, now let’s go inside, we’re going to be late!”

The hallway still looked exactly the same way as it had back then; the floor consisted of blue and yellow tiles, the lockers were positioned on both sides of the white, cracked walls. It also still sounded the same; tired voices were chattering all over the place, and Red heard “sucks” and “didn’t study” and “didn’t do my homework” quite a few times. Even the smell was still the same; a little musty mixed with the strong scent of a citric purifier.

Red thought about the time he went to school here, when he went through this door as a student, not as Kanto’s champion. Back then he had been a Nobody. Not really one of the unpopular kids, but also not one of the popular kids. He had barely been talking back then, and he couldn’t count to how many psychologists his mom had sent him back then. They all said the same: he was the actual definition of a giant introvert, and being with a lot of people put an unhealthy amounts of stress on him. Coupled with the fact that no one in this school had liked him that much- not even Green because he had been a real dick back in the day-, it made Red lose the ability to speak in certain situations. People knew not to mess with him because he was the best when it came to pokémon battles, but he was aware that they still all thought he was kinda weird because he almost never spoke.

And now he was back here, and these times were nothing but memories. The students in the big hallway got their stuff from their lockers, and Red tried to make out the weirdos, the jocks, the nerds and the cheerleaders, but to him, they all looked like they somehow belonged together. Had times changed in just four years or did his generation just suck?

When Green walked past the teenagers, quite a few heads turned and brightly beamed at him, wishing him a good morning. They curiously mustered Red- was he a new teacher? Was he someone special, would he hold the lesson today?

Green smiled and greeted everyone back, chipper as ever. That he didn’t chatter to the poor students came as a surprise to Red.

The bell rang, and listlessly, the mob of students dragged their feet to their classrooms.

Green steered towards a classroom on the right with an open door and went inside. Red followed him, quietly closing the door behind himself. The students stopped talking as soon as they noticed Green, but their gazes immediately went to Red. Twenty-seven pairs of eyes were looking at him right now. They all looked suspicious and their expressions were taunting. Red wasn’t surprised; wearing sunglasses and hats inside _was_ pretty weird.

One person stood out to him in particular, a girl with mousy brown hair and a bland face, nothing too memorable, but there was something in her stare that set her apart. Fierce determination and thoughtfulness, as if she was really putting some thought into who this stranger might be. It made Red uncomfortable. Had she recognized him?

“Good morning!”, Green said. “I brought someone with me today. This is Jack, a trainee teacher. He wants to be a Gym Leader too one day and needs to watch a few lessons.”

Red awkwardly smiled at the students. They were all fifteen to sixteen years old. Just as old as Red and Green had been when they started their journeys. How many of the students would start theirs in the next few months?

“You can sit at the table back there.”

He pointed to a table in the last row. Green, that bastard, seemed to be amused at Red’s awkwardness. The students were so quiet, why were they so quiet?

As he made his way to the back of the room and felt their eyes follow him, he hoped his costume was good enough. God forbid one of the kids would recognize him. Two of the girls in the first row whispered and giggled, most of the boys looked him up and down with cocky, yet indifferent expressions.

The chair squeaked as he sat down. He had some serious flashbacks to his school days.

“Alrighty, let’s get started!”, Green said cheerfully. His good mood absolutely didn’t fit into the constricting little classroom. “First I need to talk about something with you guys. I got _twenty_ letters of informed consent back that allow you to go on your journeys. That’s almost the whole class.”

“That’s good, isn’t it? We were reliable for once!”, a girl in the first row with shoulder-length blonde hair grinned.

“Well, yes _,_ and I _am_ proud of you guys. You were only _one_ day over the deadline this time,” Green scoffed and earned a few giggles. “I’m just surprised almost _all_ of you want to go on your journeys already, rather than wait until you’re eighteen so you can get your license for bigger and stronger pokémon. I take it most of you want to take on the pokémon league?”

 _“You_ were sixteen when you started your journey!”, a girl with red hair reminded him. “And you won the league. And _Red_ too.”

Red gave a start. He hadn’t expected to hear his name. And he also hadn’t expected the voice of the girl to sound so dreamy when she said it.

Some of the other girls started whispering again, and he very clearly heard the words _“So hot!”_

“Red, dude… MVP. MVP.” a tall boy right in front of Red said while shaking his head in amazement.

Red guessed this was the biggest compliment he could ever expect from a teenager. Yet still he wished Green would change the topic already. This was exactly what he had been trying to get away from, and honestly, he had expected people to have forgotten about him already.

“I wonder where he is,” another boy said, and Red could see his eyes expectantly wander to Green like he tried to get him to talk about it. After all, it was common knowledge that Red and Green had a history together.

Green didn’t take the bait, and Red assumed this topic had been brought up a lot already.

“Well, wherever he is, he seems to be happy there,” he just said. “Back to your question, Belle: yes, I’ve heard that journeying at age sixteen became pretty popular ever since Red and I won the league. Four years ago when I still went to school, only two other classmates became trainers at that age. But you need to understand that this is no piece of cake.”

“Daaang, Mister Green, you don’t think we can do it?”, a boy with black hair and pimples all over his face said with a playfully indignant voice

“Absolutely not,” Green deadpanned, and the class started laughing in fake outrage.

Red couldn’t hide his smile. While he knew that Green was just joking, he also knew that he actually wasn’t, and he had a feeling his students knew this too, yet they still seemed to like him.

“Ouch, Mister Green!”, the girl with blonde hair laughed.

Green merely raised his hand and the class calmed down.

“Seriously though, you need to consider the risks and downsides. You’re minors, so of course you aren’t allowed to have all the cool, dangerous pokémon that everyone wants, like charizard for example. Which, by the way, is an incredibly hard one to tame. You need to earn the trust of your pokémon before you can even _think_ of battling. And even with the small pokémon you’re allowed to have, battling is _still_ dangerous. Remember that your pokémon don’t just do all the work for you. The trainers also need to be fit. If you’re fighting against a water pokémon that uses surf, _you_ need to get out of the way too. Some Gyms have the options for trainers to stand on pedestals so they’re safe, but there’s still Gyms that want to see if you as a trainer are fit too. _My_ Gym is such a Gym for example. It’s not rare that a trainer gets hit by an attack because they didn’t work in unison with their pokémon. Usually you don’t get seriously hurt by such attacks, but it is a risk nonetheless. And while Gym leaders adjust the levels of their pokémon to how many badges you have, the pokémon league does not take your unevolved low-level pokémon into account. Their minimum level is seventy, and their pokémon _are_ all evolved, no discussion. It’s extremely hard to win. In fact, other than that one girl, Red and I were the first ones who managed to beat the league at our age, have I _ever_ mentioned that?"

The class chuckled.

"Noooo, Mr. Green, _never,"_ the girl with the blonde hair said sarcastically, and another boy said "This is the FIRST time I'm hearing this!", but both of them sounded more fondly amused than anything else. Red rolled his eyes; Green would never stop being Green, with all his annoying, but somehow endearing qualities, whether he was a teacher or not.

"Yyyyepppp. First underage region champions in a hundred years. I don't want to brag or exaggerate or whatever, but that pretty much makes us gods." He earned another laughter from the students and discreetly winked at Red, who shook his head, grinning. "Anyway. I don’t want to say you can’t make it, but what I will say is that you need to be an A+ student in this class to manage it. And you guys are good, and I absolutely believe you can do it with more practice, but…you still need work, I’m gonna be honest. Most of you are B+ students. Which is great! Just not enough. Yet.”

“What made you and Red start your journey at sixteen, then?”, the girl with red hair-Belle? - asked.

Green shrugged and smiled. “I mostly did it to get away from my grandfather. And for the money.”

The class laughed again. Only Belle did not seem amused; her laugh was just a polite and slightly irritated one. “No, I _really_ want to know!”

The other students became silent, curious for the answer. Red also caught himself leaning forward.

Green thought about it for a second, then he casually said: “Red.”

Red, along with the red-haired girl, frowned in surprise.

“Huh?”, she asked.

“Red was the reason why. Him and I, we used to be the biggest rivals, but you knew that already. I couldn’t just let this idiot win the league at sixteen while I’m waiting until I’m eighteen. That would have been lame. As for Red… he was always doting on pokémon. A real pokémon maniac. He couldn’t wait to start his journey back then.”

Red couldn’t help but feel moved. This was actually the first time he heard Green talk about him in such a genuine way, and he’d had no idea that he was actually the reason why his friend had started his journey so soon too. It gave him a sense of pride that he was part of Green’s success, even if it was just an indirect one.

“And both of you managed to beat the league!”, the blonde-haired girl reminded him.

Green shrugged again. “Of course we did. We were awesome like that, but what else do you expect from Pallet-trainers? That’s why Red became champion and I became the strongest Gym leader of Kanto. The thing is, we were absolute exceptions, and we didn’t earn our titles by being average. Not even many adults manage to get pokémon like charmeleon to listen to them, let alone win a fight for them. Gaining some pokémons’ trust is _extremely_ hard, and as you have all learned, pokémon won’t fight for you if they don’t trust you. You need to prove yourself to them in terms of knowledge and kindheartedness, and you can’t fake it. Pokémon are extremely observant and receptive.”

“Maybe one of _us_ can be an exception too!”, a delicate boy with a black and yellow cap and black hair piped up.

“Yeah, especially _you,_ Gold,” a slightly overweight boy with brown hair snorted sarcastically, and a few students giggled.

“Now, now!”, Green interrupted. “Dave, you seem to forget that Gold is one of the few straight A-students both in theoretical lessons and in practical battles, and I have high standards.”

“That’s right!”, Gold said with impressive self-confidence. “I’m gonna be just like Red! I’ll beat the league and I’ll give Team Rocket a massive kick up their asses!”

The class started murmuring at the mention of Team Rocket. Red pricked up his ears, his stomach tying into a painful knot.

Only one boy spoke up, he was sitting in the corner of the room and looked like the typical high school jock; blonde hair, symmetrical face, sports jacket: “As if you were able to hold a candle to a legend like Red.”

Green ignored him this time. “That will hardly be necessary, Gold. Team Rocket doesn’t exist anymore.”

“But-“

“Enough of that now,” Green interrupted. “I don’t want to hear the words Team or Rocket anymore for today, or any other day for that matter. They’re gone, Red defeated them, that’s it.”

Red knew that Team Rocket was a sensitive topic not just for him, but also for Green. He didn’t really know the details, he just knew that his mother had spent five years in jail because she had somehow been involved with Team Rocket, which had totally destroyed Green’s family and, consequently, his entire world.

But Red did wonder why this kid had brought Team Rocket up in the first place, and why the class had reacted like that. It gave him an unsettling feeling, and his stomach was ominously lurching. He thought about yesterday, about his goosebumps, the weird guy, and the people standing around Veridian City. Was there something he didn’t know? He decided to ask Green later, whether he wanted to talk about it or not.

The students seemed to notice Green’s change of mood too and got quiet. He took a deep breath to gather himself, then he continued. “Anyway, I hope you understand what I’m trying to tell you. Being a trainer isn’t easy, and it’s even harder at your age. One last word from me to make you rethink it: I’ve been teaching for two years now, and about one hundred of my students had their mind set on travelling through Kanto at the age of sixteen. I told them to come to my Gym and battle me as soon as they gathered seven badges. So far, only one student made it, and he lost in a matter of a minute. So there’s that.” He looked around at his students, letting his words sink in. Then he changed the subject. “Casey, Randall, Paula, Harry, Jim, Chiara and Ollie, I didn’t get the letter back from you. I take it you don’t want to go journeying- or did you forget?”

A boy with brown hair and side bangs shrugged. “I want to go to college and become a doctor. I don’t think being a trainer is for me.”

Green nodded respectfully. “And the rest? If you don’t mind me asking, of course. You don’t have to answer.”

The girl sitting closest to Red shook her head. She was wearing glasses and had pink hair.

“I don’t wanna be a trainer. I think pokémon fights are gruesome.”

Red rolled his eyes and saw that Green was trying his hardest not to. The rest of the class fell into a collective groan.

“We already talked about this, Chiara. Do we really need to go through the history of pokémon and trainers again? Or does someone else want to do it this time? Let’s see, who listened during the history lesson?”

Gold’s hand shot up.

“Yeah, Gold.”

The boy cleared his throat.

“Thousands of years ago, humans and pokémon didn’t live in peace together like they do now. Pokémon also weren’t called pokémon yet, they were just called monsters, and later, because it was shorter and more convenient, just ‘mons’. These mons had so much energy that they didn’t know where else to put it other than destruction. Fighting was just in their nature, and they attacked everyone and everything that came into their way. Building homes was impossible because the humans kept getting attacked. It wasn’t even the mons fault; it’s just that their fighting instinct was so strong that they would have literally gone crazy if they didn’t do it. And out of fear, the humans started attacking the mons too. They hunted them for their meat, their fur and their skin. It was basically a war. So one time, maybe 400 years ago, a professor called Anthony Dearing decided it couldn’t go on like this. He spent his life studying the mons’ behavior and their needs and did some experiments, and with that, he found out that they are highly intelligent beings who are capable to understand human language _and_ understand what love is. They are even smart enough to know what humans are _feeling,_ and it’s said that some have the ability to look into a human’s heart.”

Green nodded along to the speech, and even Red was impressed at how eagerly and quickly this kid just recalled all of this information.

“He did some not-so-cool- experiments in which he stole the eggs of some pokémon so he could raise their kids, and that’s when he found out that they didn’t attack him because they were attached to him. They also didn’t attack anyone else when he told them not to. He studied all of their attack strategies and gave them names, like ‘scratch’ and ‘tackle’, and the mons listened to him when he told them to use these attacks. He was also the person who developed the first ever pokéball, which made it easier for him to catch and tame all the different kinds of mons. And when he went public with all of this information, the government decided to assemble everyone who was interested in taking on the challenge of catching and taming them.

“That’s when the mons earned the more loving term, ‘pocket monsters’, and later, pokémon. The first ever trainers set out to catch these pokémon and protect their cities. In most cases, their pokémon became their pets. But soon they realized that they were all unhappy and unchallenged, so they decided to just let them battle against each other. Battling was even more dangerous back then than it is now, and that’s why trainers are held to such high standard in our society, and why they are admired so much. People started building Gyms and later the pokémon league to encourage people to become stronger and also to test who the strongest trainer was in the first place. The strongest trainer- the champion- was allowed to assist the government because he- or she, calm down, Chiara- not only had the power to protect the country and the people with their pokémon, but also the good heart and sense of justice they needed to make their pokémon listen to them and fight for them in the first place.”

 _“Nerd,”_ Dave fake coughed, and the rest of the class laughed.

“Shut your pie-hole, Dave,” Green flat-out said. “His knowledge is exactly what will make Gold an excellent trainer one day, and it’s also what makes me believe that he, indeed, _is_ one of the exceptions we’ve been talking about. Red and I wouldn’t have achieved everything we did without knowing the boring theoretical stuff too.” Green gave Gold an impressed nod of his head. “You were pretty spot-on with everything. As you can see, it would be gruesome _not_ to let pokémon fight. You can be punished by law if you don’t let certain pokémon in your possession fight because it’s classified as pokémon abuse. If you suppress their natural fighting instinct, they will go crazy and become a danger to themselves and everyone around them, and even have psychosomatic symptoms that can very well lead to death. Anthony Dearing managed to make pokémon and humans live together in harmony without forcing pokémon to give up fighting. Today, wild pokémon still have the urge to fight and still attack humans, which is exactly why everyone needs to be in possession of at least one pokémon and know the basics of training before they go pretty much anywhere. That’s also why kids like Randall, who prefers to be a doctor rather than a trainer, still have the pleasure to deal with me in classes like this.”

Chiara didn’t look impressed. “Well, I have a jigglypuff at home, and he doesn’t look unhappy even though he never fights. And other people have pokémon as pets too, so what’s that all about?”

“Very true. But what kinds of pokémon _do_ people keep as pets? Mostly it’s pokémon like growlith, glameow, skitty, evee, or, like in your case, jigglypuff. All very peaceful pokémon who don’t really have the urge to fight. But if you tried to keep, say, an _incineroar_ as a pet, what do you think would happen? I can tell you: you would one day come home to find your house in flames.”

Chiara snorted. “You have an evee, too, and you let it fight!”

Green smirked. “Yeah, but trust me, she’s anything but peaceful. If I made her a house-pet instead of letting her fight, she would make me her scratching post.”

Red rubbed his arm where the deep biting marks were still visible and silently agreed with is friend. That tiny ball of fur was a danger to society.

“But enough of that! I was just curious. Thank you for your input, Chiara, but I hope you realize that you’re not doing your pokémon a favor if you’re not letting them fight.”

“Pfft,” she just said and looked to the side. Apparently, Green wasn’t that popular in _her_ book.

“Now let’s see what else is on the agenda today. I bet you guys have already been waiting all week long for my great insight and wisdom. Get your pencils ready! Today’s topic is strategy.”

The class groaned, and Red knew what was about to come now. He chuckled as Green cleared his throat in a really over-exaggerated manner and started talking. The guy really, _really_ loved hearing his own voice, and as always, he himself was apparently the only one who was listening to it. What an absolute idiot. Red bit his cheek to keep himself from grinning as he watched Green passionately talk about offense and defense while part of the class was hanging on their tables already and the other part was desperately trying to keep up and write down what he said. Red knew that his friend was feeling pretty smart about himself when he gave speeches like this. His ability to make huge speeches was something he could brag about without actually bragging about it. He simply loved doing it, and he loved flaunting it, and he loved telling himself that everyone was hanging on his every word.

He truly was in his element. Having a room full of people depending on what he said had to be a dream come true for him.

When the bell rang about an hour later, the students looked worn out and took a deep breath of relief.

“Oh, really, the lesson is over already? But it only just started…” Green looked at his watch. The funny thing about this statement was that he actually believed it.

Red heard a boy exclaim _"Whhhhhattt?!_ Mr. Green, are you okay?!",  and the girl with the blonde hair from the first row laughed an exhausted, disbelieving laugh while the other students, chattering and laughing, were already rushing to the door. _“Sure,_ Mr. Green, tell yourself that.”

“He has, like, _no_ sense of time when he talks,” Belle said to the girl as she stood up to gather her stuff. There was no actual annoyance in her voice though, it just sounded affectionate. Red realized that these students really seemed to like Green, and getting teenagers to like you, especially as a _teacher,_ couldn't be easy. If he was honest, he had believed that Green was only popular for his good looks, but the students, girls and boys alike, actually seemed to respect him a lot, despite the fact that they were teasing him and obviously found his speeches as boring as Red did. He had never pictured him as a kid-person, especially not when it came to kids at that age, but now that he saw him as exactly that, it made him forget the frustration for him in the last two days.

“Tsk. I did you all a favor, this is inside information from an actual champion _for free_. You get that in no other school,” Green said with his usual cocky smile.

“A five-minute-champion, though,” the blonde girl reminded him.

 _“Paula!_ You can’t just _say_ that! _”_ Belle burst out laughing.

 _"Yeah,_ Paula! I am sorry, but I'm going to have to fail you," Green said in mock-outrage.

Paula chuckled. "Oh, that's fine, what is one more bad grade on my report card gonna do?"

Green rolled his eyes. "You need to stop fishing for compliments. If there's _one_ single bad grade on your report card, you can lock me in a room full of hungry zubat."

Belle laughed. "Careful, she'll actually do that!" Then she looked at Red, still grinning. “Hope you still wanna be a teacher after you saw our class. This is what you're in for!”

 _Teenagers,_ Red just thought and suppressed a grin. When everyone had finally left the room, he gave Green his most sincere slow clap, and his friend took an exaggerated bow.

“Wow, I didn’t expect much, but I gotta say, I’m impressed, Mr. Green.”

Green sighed dramatically. “Yeah, these kids look up to me. I’m, like, their hero.”

“Are you sure you’re not talking about me here? Like…damn, why do so many of them even still know my name?”

“You’re a legend. Even I have to admit that.”

“Yeah, but it’s been three years!”

Green laughed. “Remember Marianne Garritson?”

“Of course, who doesn’t? She won the pokémon league at only ten years old.”

“Exactly. And that was a hundred years ago.”

“Point taken.” Red sighed. “Couldn’t you have talked about me the way you usually talk about me? Tell them I smell like cheese, or that I listen to Nickelback, really _anything_ so they stop seeing me as this perfect Kanto legend?”

“You’d still be the Kanto legend, smelling like cheese, listening to Nickelback and everything. That’s the way it is. Stop complaining already, you’re such a whiner.”

He suddenly frowned as he looked at Red. “You okay?”

“Yeah, why does everyone ask me that today?”

Green shrugged. “You look pale.”

“Headache. It’ll pass.”

Green nodded. “Okay then. I only had this one class today, so I’d say let’s hop on charizard. There’s _lots_ of paperwork waiting for me at home, and Milt told me there’s a challenger scheduled at twelve AM at the Gym today.”

“And my mom invited you and professor Oak today at three PM, did you know that?”

Green shrugged. “No idea, gramps must have forgotten to tell me. Are you ready for his emotional outburst when he sees you?”

“Are you?”

“Nope.”

“Today will be interesting.”

They left the school and chose a secluded spot to climb back on charizard. The students weren’t supposed to know that they were friends, or else they would probably get suspicious.

This time, Green didn’t almost kill Red, but Red still squeezed the living daylights out of him from behind as a revenge, merely responding with an evil smile to Green's complaints and curses. Teasing him was way too easy, and way too much fun. As the houses of Veridian City got smaller and smaller, Red paid attention to the people in dark clothing. There were more of them around the Gym, yet they were definitely all over town. He decided to talk about it with Green again as soon as they would land. He had to have more to say about this whole thing than “Hm.”

When they arrived in Pallet, Red let go of Green, and Green being Green, pushed Red off of charizard's back where the most powerful trainer in Kanto ungracefully landed on his butt with a few ungentlemanly curses leaving his mouth.

"Did you say something?", Green said while he neatly slid down charizard's back.

"Asshole," Red mumbled while beating the dirt out of his clothes.

"Anyway!" Green called charizard back. "It was nice you came with me. You're always welcome by the way. See you later?"

He was about to turn around, but Red stopped him.

“Green?”

“Yeah?”

“I know you don’t like to talk about it, but that one thing this kid said…he said he was going to kick Team Rocket’s butt or something.”

Green let out an annoyed sigh. “You’re right, I _really_ don’t want to talk about it. It’s nonsense, Red. You’re being paranoid.”

“But-“

“I have a lot of things on my plate right now. Let’s talk about this another time, alright?”

Red took a breath to say something else, but Green cut him off. “I really need to go do this paperwork now. See you at three! We’ll talk then. I _promise._ Although I can already calm you down, Red: Team Rocket is gone, no discussion about it. All thanks to you. And partly thanks to me.”

“If you say so…”, Red said, still not convinced.

“Hey, who spent the last three years on a mountain and who was actually around the area where Team Rocket is supposed to be? Shouldn’t they have done something by now? Seriously, they’re gone, and if I hear the term ‘Team Rocket’ _one_ more time now I’m going to hurt someone.”

“I’ll hark back to that, Green!”, Red called after him. Green turned around and tipped two fingers to his forehead again before waving them once at Red, then he disappeared into his old house.

Red looked after him for a while, lost deep in his thoughts before he himself turned around to go back inside. The house was empty, and he had to admit, he was relieved at that. Sudden exhaustion came over him, and he let himself fall on the couch, rubbing his temples as he did.

The slight annoying headache was on the verge of turning into a migraine. He instinctively opened the drawer of the cocktail table next to the couch and fished out an ibuprofen pill. After he finally managed to swallow it, he lay back down and closed his eyes with the picture of the motionless, dark people in Veridian City still in his mind, and of Green’s students mumbling and whispering at the mention of Team Rocket, and Green standing in front of the blackboard, fiercely shutting them up. The bad feeling came back and made its way into his chest and stomach until it was almost like he could hear Giovanni’s cold voice whispering into his ear: _“I’ll show you what we do with intruders. You’re in for a lot of pain, boy.”_

His scar started itching, and as the panic set in, one desperate thought that he tried to ignore drowned out the entire rest of rationality he had left in him and manifested itself in his brain out of nowhere:

_They’re back. I can feel it. I don’t care what Green says: Team Rocket is back._


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading this and commenting, it means so much!  
> This chapter shows Delia's point of view a little more and her relationship with Red, Green and Liz. I hope you enjoy! :)

“…ahhh, gosh darn, my back is killing me. You chit of a girl don’t even know how lucky you are.”

“Mmmh.”

“Yes. As you get older, everything goes downhill. Yesterday I watered my plants, and I was so out of breath after that, like I just ran a marathon, and… hey, are you even listening, lass?”

“Oh, of course, Mrs. Darling! You ran a marathon when you were younger, I’d love to hear more about that!”

“What do you mean, ‘when I was younger’? I could very well run a marathon right now, thank you very much.”

A coughing fit followed this statement.

“Also, that was not at all what I was talking about. Young women have unlearnt the ability to listen when somebody talks to them.”

 “I apologize.”

“Ehh, it’s alright.” The old woman creaked and groaned like the chair she was sitting on as she changed her position. “You have your own problems.”

_Don’t say it. Don’t say it._

But she said it.

“You’re the mother of _the_ Red, after all. Nothing is worse than outliving your own child.”

Delia froze. “He is _not_ dead, Mrs. Darling.”

Actually knowing this for a fact didn’t lessen the impact of the imagination that he was. It also didn’t lessen the impact the sound of his name still had on her.

The grumpy expression of the old hag turned sympathetic. “That’s the spirit, chit. Never lose hope.”

Delia pressed her lips together, took a deep breath and counted to ten while she brushed the woman’s hair harder than she needed to. “How is your garden doing, Mrs. Darling?”

Unfortunately, Mrs. Darling didn’t understand hints well. “No, I’m serious! There’s absolutely no hope that your son is still alive…”

_“Mrs. Darling…”_

“…and even if he is, you still have to deal with the shame of him running away from his duty as a Champion, which is the biggest insult and disrespect to your country and your people imaginable. If he was my son, I wouldn’t be able to show my face in public anymore. But _you,_ you don’t let that bring you down. You put on a brave face and you deal with it. You have punch. I don’t see that often in young women nowadays.”

“All done, Mrs. Darling. Please wait for fifteen minutes. I’ll get back to you later to wash the dye off.”

“You’re an angel, chit.”

Delia turned away from the woman and rolled her eyes while harshly breathing out. She was anything but an angel, because angels were forgiving and understanding, while she was boiling inside. To hell with Mrs. Darling. _To hell_ with Red.

Was she happy he was back? More than anything. Did she want to murder him? Absolutely. There was no moment where she didn’t think about him, wondering if he was alright and if he was still breathing the same air as she was. And when she finally found something like peace and convinced herself that her son wasn’t going to leave her again, a Mrs. Darling or a Mrs. Dearing or a Mrs. Whateverthehelltheyareallcalledtheyalllookthesameanyways came in and tried to needlessly make her feel better by reminding her of him and making her worry all over again.

She took her dirty gloves off and went to a secluded place behind the counter to take a few deep breaths and then check her phone. _Of course_ he hadn’t texted her, because why would he?  
  
Delia felt dizzy. This was a stimulus satiation at its finest. Stimulus satiation… a term she saw often in those parent-magazines she used to read when Red was still a little kid. And now _she_ was suffering from it. Only in her case, too many toys weren’t the problem at hand, it was her damn emotions. There were so many things she wanted to do now that her son was back, and she didn’t know where to start. She wanted to sulk and show him the cold shoulder to make him realize just _how_ much he had messed up. She wanted to tell him about the millions of customers who just wouldn’t shut up about him to make him feel guilty. She wanted to go to the zoo with him, just like when he was little. She wanted to- as creepy as that may sound- watch him sleep and tuck him in make sure he was safe. Most of all, she just wanted to _see_ him. With so many completely different needs and possibilities, what the hell was she supposed to do?

The whole day she had been unconcentrated. She had almost dyed old Mrs. Darling's hair purple. Only one single thought accompanied her through the forenoon: _I want to go home._

It was, after all, unfair that after three years of anxious waiting and hoping were finally over, Red was constantly out and about, while she was stuck at a place where people never stopped pestering her about how proud she should be of her son, or how ashamed she should be for him, or how _hard_ it had to be to always be confronted with his disappearance. How she could bear people bringing this topic up all the time, they asked. Followed by the statement: _"I'm_ respectful, at least. It would never come to _my_ mind to be so overbearingly intrusive. People just don't understand that, but most of them _are_ really annoying and pushy. And they don't even _realize_ it."

And she had to smile and nod and act like she didn't suddenly feel the urge to experiment a little with the haircut of her talkative costumers. Secretly, she wished she had actually grabbed the purple hair dye for Mrs. Darling.

However, when she sluiced the color out of the old woman's hair and blow dryed it- "You know, chit, no offense, but why you hairdressers always ask for a higher salary, I don't understand. Washing, blow drying and brushing, those are all things I can do at home too"-, it shone in an unnatural bright blonde.

"You look beautiful, Mrs. Darling," Delia heard herself say. She had enough job experience to make it sound genuine.

"That is true. I feel forty years younger. I'm almost afraid to go out on the street," the old woman said while she looked at her wrinkled face from every angle.

Delia frowned in confusion. "Why is that?"

Mrs. Darling made a gesture in which she shrugged and moved her arms along, as if she was shocked that Delia didn't know. "Well, you hear it everywhere! Team Rocket is rumored to be back. As a woman, you can barely dare to leave the house anymore."

If she noticed that Delia flinched at the mention of Team Rocket, she didn't say anything.

"Especially such a young, pretty thing like you. As the mother of Red you need to take even more care. They have an eye on you, I'm telling you that much."

Delia felt the blood leave her face. However it wasn't Mrs. Darling's friendly reminder of how vulnerable she was that was responsible for that. The thing that occupied her mind was the simple ring of her phone four years ago. She would never in a million years forget that. Two weeks prior, she had watched the news. Just now, they were reporting about a gruesome story: Team Rocket had killed a poor marowak and stolen her cub. Then the group had occupied the pokémon tower of all places and even taken human hostages. The Silph Co. building was completely filled with them too, and the citizens of Saffron City were mercilessly terrorized.

Delia could only shake her head over such ferocity. This was terrible! She didn't like the thought that Red and Green were out there alone, now of all times, so she decided to text them. First Red: a simple "Are you okay?"

Then she asked Green the same question, a disquieting feeling in her heart. Green's answer came five minutes later: "Of course! Just skunked a bunch of trainers on route 13 ;D"

Sie allowed herself to be a little relieved. Route 13 was fairly far away from Saffron City. Then she wrote back: "Take care of yourself! You should come back to Pallet Town". But the majority of her tension stayed because half an hour later, Red had still neither answered her message nor read it.

_Maybe he's battling right now. No reason to worry._

On the next day, he still hadn't responded, so she sent him another message: "Where are you?! Are you okay?!! Please answer me as soon as you can!!"

This message stayed unread until the next day too, and Delia was starting to panic. She tried to think rationally: Red was a sixteen year old boy, and he had started distancing himself before his travel began already in a way that sixteen year old boys distance themselves from their annoying mothers.

Surely he just hadn't felt like responding to her. Surely he'd just had one of his teenager-moods. She remembered how shortly after Red was born, people had told her she should be glad she had a boy. Little girls were cute, they said, but unbearable in their teenage years. You always had to worry about them, and you always had to somehow deal with their moodswings, and it was _so_ hard on you to watch your little girl grow up.

But when Red reached this difficult age where he was supposed to be easier to handle than a girl, it turned out that everything had been empty nonsense. As soon as Red was twelve, it was like someone had flipped a switch. Concerning the myth that you had to worry less about a teenage boy than a teenage girl, these smartasses were wrong already. How often had Delia sat in front of Red's locked door, silently crying because something he didn't want to talk about was bothering him? How often hadn't she slept a wink at night when she knew that her son wasn't in his bed, safe and sound right in the room next to her's? How many weeks had she had to mentally prepare herself after Red announced, that he wanted to travel at age sixteen instead of, like she had assumed, at least eighteen? How often had she caught herself imagining the worst case scenarios after his goodybe, most of them involving kidnapping?

She also couldn't imagine that it was much harder to watch your little girl grow up compared to your little boy, because she clearly remembered how Red came back from a two-week school trip, tan and at least a centimeter taller. When she hugged him, she noticed that hard muscles were starting to take the place of the softness and tenderness of his childhood, and that he didn't need to look up anymore to talk to her. She had desperately wanted to yell at him to just stop growing up already. Angus had felt the same way before his death. Countless times he had looked at his son, deep in his thoughts while turning the fishing rod in his hands, and mumbled "Time is passing too fast. If only he would always stay as little as now."

But the most important realization was that boys- that included Green and every other boy Red had to do with- were worse dramaqueens and she-goats than girl were, just in other ways. Every mother of a son that she talked to about this agreed with a vigorous nod of her head. Eye-rolling and door-banging were at the top of the agenda, secretiveness was taking its course, and provocative silence, accompanied by indifferent shoulder shrugs, spread at the dining table when she asked him about his day.

Before the journey of her son, Delia sometimes hadn't even been able to _breathe_ without Your Majesty Red wordlessly and sulkily locking himself in his room for two days.

Why should it be different on his journey than at home? That had to be it. It was just one of his moods. He had probably seen her message pop up, rolled his eyes and went on his way. She sank on the couch and turned on the TV while nervously folding laundry to distract herself. The week went by without Red writing back or reading the message, and Delia wrote "Young man! Respond to me RIGHT NOW!", but of course he didn't. She texted Green, asking him about Red, but Green just said "No idea. Last time I saw him was a week ago in Lavandia." She froze. Lavandia where Team Rocket was. She called the police, but they just said they were working on stopping Team Rocket, and that if something happened to her son, he'd be okay as soon as the gang was gone. Which didn't do much to calm her down. Another week went by, and Delia was freaking out. She hadn't eaten or slept because now she just knew that something had happened. The newsreports always said that none of the human hostages had been killed. Yet. And she caught herself holding her breath every time she turned on the TV. Right now, she was nervously folding the laundry again. The news were running, and the moderator- young, blonde and pretty in a run-of-the-mill kind of way- was just talking about a Wingull's kidnapping on Hoenn. Delia's focus was completely on the laundry, trying to fold it as neatly as possible while on the inside, she was screaming. Then the blonde put a hand on her ear and seemed very concentrated and tense for a moment before she said: "I just got news from Saffron City and Lavandia!" 

Delia dropped the towel she was holding and folded her shaking hands in her lap. The blonde woman had interrupted another newsreport for this, so something must have happened. She felt sick to her stomach.

"Team Rocket was chased out of Lavandia and Saffron City. All hostages are physically fine." A clip of Saffron City got displayed. There was police tape all around the Silph Co. building, and people were walking out of it, crying and hugging their loved ones. Blue flashes of light told her that the ambulance and the police cars were standing nearby.

"Twenty Team Rocket grunts were detained, the rest is unfortunately still out there, so please stay vigilant. The police is also still looking for the head of the group, whom they couldn't identify yet. All of this happened thanks to a brave sixteen year old who risked his life to save others. This incredible young man snuck inside of the Silph Co. building and somehow managed to overpower the group. Unfortunately, he suffered many severe injuries, and right now, the doctors are still fearing for his life. All our thoughts and prayers are with him and the family of this young hero. We hope he recovers soon. "

And just in that moment, the phone rang. It made Delia jump, and her already constricted chest tightened even more. Somehow she knew that the newsreport and the call had to be about Red. She grabbed the phone so fast that it slipped out of her hand. Cursing, she picked it up again, clicked the green button and yelled a desperate "Red?!" in the earpeace.

A young male voice that showed no positive or negative emotion answered her. "Hello, my name is Devon Mori. I'm calling from the Saffron City hospital. Am I speaking to Delia Tajiri?"

"Yes," she breathed into the phone. More than a whisper wasn't possible right now.

"It's about your son."

Delia exhaled a shaky breath and supported herself on the coffee table next to the sofa when her legs were about to give out. She knew it. This kid. This stupid, stupid kid.

"He's a real hero. He did what the police has been trying to do for at least twenty years: he chased Team Rocket away."

Delia didn't want to know anything about that right now. She would kill Red later for that. In case he was still alive, that is. She was about to have a panic attack.

"Is he..." she swallowed, tried to gather herself. "Is he okay?"

"As good as can be expected under these circumstances," the man answered. "These criminals really stop at nothing. They don't even have a problem with hurting kids. Your son has a broken leg, two broken ribs and a big, deep wound over his left shoulder. Also a laceration on his forehead and several bruises all over his body. Moreover, when the paramedics brought him in, he suffered from internal bleeding. It was very close, but he is over the hump. You must be so proud of him!"

Delia threw up all over her fresh laundry pile.

When she thought about the call today, the memory sent ice cold shivers over her back. "Over the hump", that meant that he almost died. He almost lost his life and left her behind alone. And what was he going through emotion-wise? This would leave a trauma, for sure! She had been so angry at his recklessness that she wanted nothing more than to yell at him, but when she arrived in the hospital an hour later and saw him lying there, unconscious in the white, sterile bed and attached to several cables and tubes, her anger fumed away immediately and she sank to the ground, sobbing for literally two hours by his side. She wasn't sure if the next thing she remembered, which was letting all her anger out on Green because he, as she had found out, had snuck into the Silph Co. building aswell and lied about skunking a bunch of trainers on route 13, had actually happened or if it had just been a dream, but it seemed vivid enough to be real.

At the memory of her wounded son, Delia felt fury rise up in her chest. If Team Rocket was back, _they_ needed to watch their backs, because there's nothing more dangerous in the world than a mother trying to protect her child.

"Chit, are you okay? You look so pale," Mrs. Darling said.  
  
Delia exhaled. "Yes. Yes, everything is okay, Mrs. Darling. Don't worry about Team Rocket. My son, who I'm supposed to be ashamed of, destroyed them three years ago. But I'm sure your son, who has been living at the cost of the state for years because he doesn't want to work, would have done the same. Alright, that makes 4000 pokédollars."

She turned around and walked to the counter. Sulkily and muttering the old woman followed her, took out her purse and gave Delia the money- without a tip, of course. Then she rushed out of the beauty salon, murmuring "That's how young women are these days" under her breath.

"That was _cold,"_ a voice behind Delia said. An overweight woman her age with dark skin and a stern, but benevolent face was standing behind her. Delia sighed.

"I'm sorry, Pat, but I just couldn't help it."

"I understand, girl. Arceus knows how often I'd like to slap my costumers in the face, and for you, it's probably so much worse. But you need to pull yourself together. We don't want to lose our costumers."

"You're right. It won't happen again."  
  
"I hope so! Now get back to work."

Delia smiled at the gruff, but affectionate nature of her boss. If it hadn't been for her, she would have quit her job long ago and would have moved away, somewhere into a far-away region. Alola was supposed to be beautiful. Red was well-known all around the globe, but his mother wasn't. She could have lived a quiet, calm life. Green would have called her every day to tell her about Red, and as soon as he came back, she would have returned to Kanto aswell. But Pat had told her to be patient. And other than literally every other person she met, she never started talking about Red at her own account.

Still, Delia wanted nothing more than go home and look at Red's ruffled bed, just to make sure that he was really back. She just hoped that he would be punctual today. And that he wouldn't just disappear again.

But, she remembered with a chuckle, he was with Green, and the feisty Gym Leader would probably rather rip both of Red's legs out than letting him run away again. When Red was about to leave this morning, the thought that Green was the only one he could meet up with right now had made it possible for her to make a happy face.

Red and Green, she thought. The way they treated each other would have been a no-go for any other friendship. Two confused lads who badly needed a push in the right direction. Both broken and marked in their own ways. They expressed affection through insults, and apologies through even more insults. A rare smile played on her lips when she remembered how Red had told her he liked someone at age fourteen and he wanted her to meet the person. To her suprise he didn't bring a girl home, but a boy. A boy with the same tousled brunette hair as Green and with the same tone of green in his eyes. Only Green's clever and cunning mischievousness and his unadulterated charm was missing from the bland, dottled face of the boy.

From then on, she had watched Red and Green very closely, only to realize that they were dancing around each other like scared up deers. If it wasn't so sad, it would have been pretty adorable and entertaining. She wished their stupid rivalry, led by Green's ambition and arrogance, hadn't come between them. And Green's refusal to think about his sexuality in the first place. And _Red's_ moodswings, because whenever she tried to talk to him about this, he became the obnoxious, hormone-driven teenager that he was and snapped at her: "For the last time, I don't like Green like that! Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I like every single guy I come across! And it's not even like he's gay anyway, so what are you trying to achieve here, mom? Just leave me alone, _jeeze!"_ and then he locked himself in his room again.

Yes, boys were _definitely_ easier, Delia thought scornfully. _She_ had never talked to her parents like that at his age, anway.

The bell on the door announced a new customer, and Delia forced herself to steer her attention from her beloved son to a stranger she didn't know and didn't care about.

"Do you have an appointment?", she asked.

The woman was young, maybe in her mid-twenties, and giggled foolishly. "Uhhhhh I'm not really here for a hair cut."

"Oh? So why are you here?"

"Uuuhhhhhhhhh," she giggled. "I just wanted to see you. Uhhhh you're the mother of Red, right? Can I have an autograph and a picture? And, uhhh, ask a few questions?"

She grinned in a hopeful way.

Delia closed her eyes, took a deep breath and inwardly counted to ten while massaging her temples.

"Or, uhhhhh, not," the woman said anxiously.

At this moment, Pat came back to the counter and said with a firm voice: _"You,_ book an appointment and get a hair cut or get lost. And _you!"_ She pointed at Delia. "You go home and put your feet up."

The young woman looked like she had just drobbed her tray in a full canteen. She laughed nervously again. "Uuhhhhhhh....sorry, I was just curious." She turned around with one swift movement as if she tried to shake the embarrassment off. "Byyeee!"

Delia smiled at Pat gratefully. "What was that you said about 'pulling oneself together?", she teased after the woman left.

Pat rolled her eyes. "Arceeeeeus, who could bear this?" She mocked the young woman: "Ehehehehe I don't want a hair cut! Ehehehe I just want to stare at the stuff like they were pokémon in the safari zone and don't see what's wrong about that even though I'm an adult woman! Ehehehe I'm so nervous and cute and _annoying! Ehehehehehehehe!"_

The entire beauty salon along with its staff paused to shoot Pat a confused look.

"Get back to work!", she snarled and everyone went back to what they were doing before.

Delia gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Thank you, Pat, thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it. If anyone deserves a break, it's you."

Delia smiled gratefully, then she grabbed her handbag and left the salon accompanied by the annoying ringing sound of the bell. At the same moment, a man squeezed himself past her through the door. He was tall and wore dark clothes; Pat didn't think she had ever seen him in Pallet. With a smile that seemed a tad bit insane to her, he rested his arms on the counter.

"Can I help you?", she asked suspiciously while involuntarily taking a step back.

The smile of the man got wider. "I believe you can."

* * *

 

Delia had only been in the salon for three hours and yet she felt like she had worked a full day. The thought of Professor Oak and Green coming to visit later brightened her mood a little, even though Professor Oak had become more and more unlikable to her in the past few years because of how he treated Green. She hoped that would change now that Red was back.

Just when she was dragging herself the last few meters to her house, a woman she knew all too well approached her. Regretfully she was aware that it was too late to turn away and act like she hadn't seen her. 

"Cooee, Delia!"

The squeaky voice had always been Delia's béte noire. She kept her unimpressed expression. The need to be polite to the woman who had destroyed her already broken family was vanishingly small. Liz was standing right in front of her, and now that the initial shock of their sudden first meeting had faded, Delia could finally take a closer look at her. Time hadn't been as kind to Liz as it had been to Delia, she acknowledged without false modesty. That was probably the prison's fault. And the drugs. Wrinkles were showing on her pale, haggard face, and her hair that used to be the same vibrant brown, almost ginger, that her children had, was now dull, thin and greyish. Still her expression somehow made her look younger; to her discontent, Delia recognized the same playful and intelligent mimic that she always saw in Green, and that she loved so much about him. Even her eyes- green like a forest from a fairy-tale- were the same. Liz used to be beautiful, and in a way, she still was, just in a... much more worn-out way.

"What are you doing here at this time? Aren't you supposed to work? The beauty salon is open today, isn't it?", she asked. Then, as if she had an epiphany, she clasped her hands in front of her mouth and gasped for air. "Oh no, you got fired, didn't you? I heard this happens to many people who lose a child. Because they just melt down and go crackers and all that."

"I neither melted down, nor did I go crackers, Liz. And I _didn't_ lose my child," Delia shot back with fierce assertiveness.

"Oh, you brave soul! You know, I can imagine what you're going through, and I'm not half as positive as you are. I lost my kids too."

Anger jolted through Delia's body like a white glaring flash of lightenning.

"You didn't _lose_ your kids, Liz, you _left_ them. Don't you dare compare your fate to that of parents who _didn't_ have a choice. You know what, I don't even want to talk with you about this now. Get out of the way, please."

Liz looked like she had slapped her. Good, Delia thought. But her mimic and her eyes apparently weren't the only thing Liz had in common with her son. She recovered in a matter of seconds and hid behind a mask. Only that her mask was not, like in Green's case, arrogance, but ignorance.

"I understand you're exhausted! But I really need someone to talk! Please?"

"With what have you earned my precious time?", Delia asked with a sharp voice. If anyone needed and deserved someone to talk, it was Green, not the person who was responsible for the condition he was in.

Liz cocked her head. "Delia? I'm not sure anymore if you're just trying to pull my leg or not. What you're saying is really starting to get to me. You can drop the act now."

"I have better things to do than 'pull your leg', Liz."

"What's going on all of a sudden? You weren't like that back in the day."

"I've always been like that. Back then I just didn't have a reason to hate you yet."

Liz sharply looked up. Delia noticed that her green eyes were wet, and her lower lip was quivering.

 _Pure manipulation,_ she thought, but unfortunately it worked. Angrily she tried to push down the guilt and sympathy that were forming itself in her chest.

"You...you _hate_ me?!" Liz collapsed on the rock behind her as if all strength had suddenly left her legs.

Delia forced herself to stay strong.

"Actually this doesn't surprise me," Liz tonelessly mumbled then while looking at nothing in particular. "Everyone hates me. Even Green."

"I'm not blaming him," Delia responded dryly.

Liz flinched and seemed to collapse even further on her rock, hugging her knees to her chest like a little girl. "Please don't talk like that, Delia! Do you really want to kick me when I'm already down?"

"No. I just want you to understand that you're not the victim."

She was about to walk past the pathetic woman to finally flee onto her beloved couch, but Liz desperately grabbed her arms like she was drowning. "Please, Delia! Please!"

With pleading wet eyes she looked up to the other woman. Her face was already red and puffy like she had cried for an hour. "I fucked up. And I can't change that. But all I'm asking for is a little bit of sympathy! And my son! I want my son back. I love him more than anything else, he's my everything!"

"Hm. You got along pretty well without him for twelve years."

The desperation in Liz' face changed into anger as if someone had flipped a switch. "Yes, and those years were _pure_ vacation for me! I haven't slept through a single night, and when I finally did, I had nightmares! I had to live with my guilt every day _and_ with the knowledge that I would probably never see my son and daughter again! Christ, I was _ashamed_ , Delia! Who wants to have a mother that was in jail because she worked with Team Rocket? I didn't stay away from Green and Daisy for sheer fun!"

“And again we're at the point where you're the victim."

"I already said I know I fucked up!" Liz looked exhausted all of a sudden. "Delia...I would do anything to get Green back. _Anything._ Daisy has forgiven me, but Green, he doesn't even _look_ at me. I thought Daisy was gonna be the tough one to convince because she was always such a rebel when she was a kid while Green was such an uncomplicated sweetheart who basically worshipped me. At first I thought it was just his initial surprise, but even a day later he won't even let me talk to him! I love him so much, it hurts, and I'm so ashamed that I'm the reason he was suffering all those years. Those twelve years without him and Daisy were pure hell for me, but I was just too much of a coward to come back. I want to change now. Really!"

Delia looked at her thoughtfully. "Don't tell _me_ then. Tell him."

She was about to leave again, but Liz leaped up from her rock and desperately called: "I'm trying, but he's not even listening to me! What if...what if he never forgives me?"

Delia wanted to say that that was very likely, but Liz' expression stopped her. Her face was a mask of pure fear, and Delia felt sympathy again for this broken woman. She sighed.

"Don't just talk. Prove to him that you love him and that you changed. Don't ever disappoint him again. Got it? Not a single time. Even when it's just about dinner or a movie or any other trivialities. And if you do, don't you dare come back ever again."

"And how do I do that if he doesn't want anything to do with me?"

"You need to start slow, Liz. Don't overwhelm him. All of this must be a lot for him. Give him a reason to trust you again."

Liz nodded slowly, then she suddenly looked at Delia with a clear expression. "I'll try." She looked at the ground again. "You know, it's crazy, Delia...Green and Daisy could be serial killers and I still wouldn't stop loving them. But it doesn't work like that the other way around. The love a child has for their parent gets more fragile the older the kid gets. Every parent knows that, and somehow, that's okay... I can live with the fact that he doesn't love me as much as I love him. But I can't live with the fact that he hates me. I just can't. My life would be worth nothing anymore if he did."

Now it was her turn to try and go on her way, but Delia surprised herself by putting a hand on her shoulder and softly saying: "He doesn't hate you. I shouldn't have said that. He just has so much anger built up inside of him that he needs to let out before he can talk to you normally."

Liz gave her a grateful smile, which Delia returned in a not-so-convincing fashion. Her anger was gone and now she just felt bad. Not because of the things she had said to Liz, but because she felt like she had interfered in something that was none of her business. But then again, this was about Green, and it was hard to stay out of it. Even though she had said things to him in the past that she hated herself for as much as Liz was supposed to hate herself, his well-being was almost just as near and dear to her as Red's. The last thing she wanted was seeing how he got hurt and disappointed again.

Liz squeezed Delia's hand, then she went on her way, her walk a little less elated than before. Before anyone else could approach her, Delia quickly walked over to her house. The couch was forgotten; her fingers were itching. She needed to do something. Best would be to do housework, and then she could cook for the dinner. That would distract her.

When she entered the room, she gave a start, because at the same time she had come in, a quiet noise came from the couch.

Carefully walked a few steps towards it, but then she saw who had made the sound and her heart got a lighter.

Red was snoozing on the blue cusions, one hand on his chest, the other on his stomach. A wave of emotion overcame her. She just wanted to drink this moment in. Being able to see her son had been impossible for three years, and now he was here, lying on the couch, as if nothing had happened, as if he had never been gone. She would never take looking at his face for granted again. The urge to hug him was overwhelming, but she didn't want to risk waking him up and destroy this moment of peace.

Even though he looked anything but peaceful. His face seemed tense, his head on the pillow moved from one side to the other, his ribcage lifted and lowered in an irregular rhythm, and his skin was as pale as it had been this morning. A pack of ibuprofen lay on the coffeetable.

Worried, she felt his temperature, but it wasn't increased. It was kinda ridiculous anyway, that after spending three years on an icy mountain, he would get a fever now. Still she didn't like the way he looked at all. At her touch, Red hummed and slowly opened his eyes. Did he just flinch when he saw her or was she imagining things?

"Red," she said softly. "Hey. How are you?"

He sighed tiredly and rubbed his eyes. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yes. I think you're getting sick, honey. That's how it always starts with you."

"Nnnnnnn I'm fine," Red mumbled, still half asleep.

"How was Green's lecture?"

Red smiled a little. "Good. His students actually like him for some reason."

Delia chuckled while resuming to stroke over his hair. "Should I cancel dinner with Professor Oak and Green today? You should rest."

She was sure that he would say Yes, her introverted son, but to her surprise, he shook his head. "No, it's alright. I'm feeling better already." Then he gave her a confused look. "What time is it anyway?"

Delia looked at her watch. "11:45."

"Oh." Red rubbed his hand over his face again. "Don't you need to work today?"

"Yes, but Pat sent me home early."

"Why? Are you okay?" Worriedly Red looked at her, and she couldn't supress her smile. He had been an obnoxious teenager, but he seemed like an okay adult.

"I'm great. There weren't a lot of costumers today and we were overstaffed. Alright, and now I need to clean, so you need to get out of my way. You should go to your room and lie down for a bit. Take a rest."

Her expression got even more worried when he accepted that offer without objection and struggled to get off the couch. She gazed after him as he dragged himself upstairs. Later she'd force him to make a doctor's appointment. From outside, she heard the growl of a charizard, and when she walked to the window, Green was just about to climb on its back. He seemed tense and lost in his thoughts. What was wrong with her boys today?

That's when Green noticed her and woke up from his trance. Smiling, he waved at her, and she raised a hand to wave back. Then charizard raised in the sky, and he was gone as fast as he had come.

* * *

When Green landed in Viridian City for the second time today, he hated himself for the chills that ran over his back at the sight of the dark clothed people. Thanks a lot, Red. Before he had talked about it, Green hadn't even paid attention to them, but now he didn't feel comfortable anymore in his town.

He called charizard back into his ball and was about to walk to the Gym, but then someone said "Hey!" and tapped his shoulder. Startled, Green flinched and spun around to look into the confused and contrite face of Gold.

"Sorry, Mr. Green! I didn't want to scare you!"

Green exhaled, relieved and a little embarrassed. "Don't give yourself so much credit, kid. You didn't _scare_ me, you just _startled_ me. Huge difference."

Gold laughed. "Sure thing!"

"Okay, don't believe me then. Too bad my straight A student will get an F in the next test," Green teased. "Speaking of which, why aren't you in school right now?"

Gold gave him a wide grin. "Math got cancelled because Mrs. Warwitch was sick."

Green clicked with his tongue disapprovingly. "This school is way too easy on kids these days. Well, enjoy your freedom then! Don't forget to study for the test next week."

"Actually...." Gold hestitated. "Well... I know you were on your way to the Gym, and I wanted to ask you if you could let me watch your battle...?"

"Oh..." Green felt himself become nervous. People were always welcome to watch the battles- of course they were, after all they were supposed to know that Green Oak wasn't playing around when it came to pokémon fights. But for some reason it made him nervous when said audience consisted of his students. That's why he usually battled in the morning when they were all still in school.

"Today is not a good time," he said slowly. "Oh well, but I'm sure we'll face each other in an actual battle soon enough."

"Precicely not." The boy glumly looked to the ground. "My mom got a job offer in Johto. We'll move next month. I'll take on the challenge over there."

Green wrinkled his nose. _"Johto",_ he spat out like it was a disease. "The Gym leaders there are pushovers. Nothing compared to Kanto's Gyms. What a waste. But hey, you know what, when you defeated the Johto Gyms, just come back to Kanto and collect the badges here. And as soon as you have seven, we'll battle."

Gold gave him his widest smile. "That would be _awesome!_ You think I can actually make it that far?"

"If anyone can do it, it's you."

The boy looked like he had just won the lottery. "Thanks, Mr. Green!"

Green was relieved. He gave the kid a nod and was about to say goodbye, but Gold just ran past him into the Gym's direction.

"Uhh... Gold, where are you going?"

"Well, to the Gym, where else?", Gold said with that naive voice of his. "I have to analyse your strategy if I want to win!"

"But..." Green sighed. "Alright. Just this once."

Gold practically rejoiced at that- "The others will never believe me! I'm the first one who gets to watch one of your battles!!"- and Green forced a smile. He liked his energetic fosterlings, and he felt a sense of sadness when he thought about the fact that his best student was about to move to Johto of all places. The boy would be completely unchallenged there.

Green had met the Gym leaders at a regional Gym leader meeting and had been mortified. The only ones who seemed to have something on the ball were Whitney, Norbert and Sabrina.

He opened the door of his Gym, only to realize that his challenger was already there. It was a middle aged man, dressed in- surprise!- black. It seemed like he'd just fought against Melissa, an Ace-trainer, who was in the process of calling her pokémon back. Apparently the mysterious man had won. When Green looked up, he saw that both sides of the elevated audience ranks were filled with people wearing- another surprise- dark clothes. Usually the audience clapped when they saw him enter the Gym, but these people just...watched with superior expressions on their faces. He frowned. A big audience wasn't anything new when the battles happened at night, but now at 12 AM, it was definitely not normal. A bad feeling crept up in his stomach, and he felt himself grow angry. Couldn't his memories of Team Rocket leave him alone? Why did Red have to be so paranoid, and why did he have to transfer that onto him?

He thought of his mother and how she had chosen her Rocket-boyfriend, who almost became his step-father, over her own family. Bitterly, his hands balled into fists. This unlucky challenger would suffer now.

"Mr. Green? Is everything okay?", Gold next to him asked carefully, and Green swallowed his anger.

But he didn't get to answer the boy, because the challenger was already turning to look at him and spoke with a snooty voice: "Ahhh, there he is! Finally! I was bored, so I played a little with your trainers here."

The people in the audience ranks laughed.

"What took you so long?", the man continued.

"It's exactly 11:59," Green said frigidly.

"Sorry, Green! He was just too strong!", Melissa piped up, but he stopped her with a wave of his hand. He never understood why his trainers made such a big deal out of losing. After all, he was the leader, not them.

"So, can we begin, ex-Champion?", the guy asked with a sly smile.

"No," Green said firmly. "First, I want to see your badges."

"I would gladly show them to you if I had any."

Green was so baffled for a second, all he could muster at first was a gasp.

Then he gave Milt a withering look. "I told you I don't battle anyone who doesn't have at least seven badges," he hissed, and his secretary flinched.

"I-I'm sorry, Green! He...he talked so much, I completely forgot to ask! This never happened before..."

Green sighed, annoyed, and tried to gather himself. This wasn't like him. He wasn't the type of guy to snap at his employees for small mishaps, and poor Milt had done a good job ever since he started. Right now he looked like a child that got slapped for no reason. But goddamnit! Did everything have to go wrong? After three years, his best friend had finally climbed down the damn mountain and now he started being a freaking conspiracy theorist about Team Rocket and drove Green crazy with that too. Then his mother decided it would be a good time to reunite with her estranged son that _she had left,_ and he didn't even want to THINK about his grandfather. And this guy, this challenger, he was the final straw. Rude and creepy, and all Green wanted to do was wipe that grin off of his face.

He took a deep breath and dug his fingernails so deep into the palms of his hands that he was sure he had to start bleeding any moment. "No use crying over spilled milk. I don't want to have come here for nothing, so let's just get this over with. How many pokémon do you have?"

"One," the challenger said, and Green almost hit the rhydon statue next to him in frustration. The _disrespect._ This guy had no badges and only one pokémon and yet he dared to come here and challenge _him_ of all people to a battle.  
Either this guy was stupid, or he had no idea who Green was, _or_ he seriously thought he could take him on. It didn't matter anyway because he was stupid in any case.

But he would show him soon enough who was the boss here. He wasn't the toughest Gym Leader in Kanto for nothing; hell, ever since he became one, there had been exactly zero registrations for the pokémon league. He may have been a laughing stock after he got defeated by Red, but after he took over the Viridian Gym and people noticed all of his challengers leave the building with tears in their eyes, no one was laughing anymore. This guy didn't seem to have received the message yet that ridiculing Green Oak was outdated ever since his very first challenger, a guy with  _ten_ badges, got defeated in a record time of twenty seconds.

"Alright," he said between gritted teeth. "One versus one to make it fair. Gold, go upstairs with the other trainers. You can watch from there."

"Okay, Mr. Green..." Gold's enthusiasm had visibly died down. Whether it was because of the overwhelming atmosphere that could be felt in all Gyms or because of Green's unusual tension, he had no idea. 

Out of the corner of his eye he saw how Gold was about to sit with the dark clothed people, and his inner alarm bells went off.

 _Damn you, Red,_ he thought for the millionth time ever since his friend had returned.

"Melissa, Reuben!", he barked, and the boy along with the other trainers flinched and spun around to look at him. "Sit next to him!" He nodded towards Gold and then shot the dark-clothes-clan a deadly look, which some of them returned with a smirk.

Gold shyly picked a place and the Ace-trainers followed him. Melissa and Reuben, Green's best trainers, sat down next to him on either side. _  
_

Green turned around to focus on the mysterious challenger.

"Alright, newbie. Show me what you've got."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for the comments!! I'm so sorry that I don't always reply to them, I always feel so guilty because you took some time out of your day just to write feedback, but sometimes I don't know what to reply! Just know that I'm always extremely happy and grateful for them!!
> 
> Also, I'm so sorry this took so long! Real life is a stressful pain right now.
> 
> Also also, I know Pokémon Masters has been out for a while now and this is old news, but can we please have a moment of silence for Red's new outfit?
> 
> Last also: WARNING: there's one mention of depression and suicide. No one is depressed or commits suicide, but the two things do get mentioned, and I just thought I put a warning in as a precaution

Roserade. Green had heard of this pokémon and seen pictures of it, but never thought he would ever see one with his own eyes, here in the Kanto region of all places. Sometimes he had challengers from other regions, yes, but they usually switched the team they had in their homeland for a new Kanto team, or they started their journeys in Kanto instead of their homeland for whatever reason. Pokémon from other regions were something Green could only ever admire on TV. For a second he was so blown away that he almost forgot to call out his pokémon; he just stared.  
  
"What's wrong, ex-Champ?", the challenger sneered. "Never been outside of the Kanto-region, eh?"  
  
Green clenched his fist. No, he hadn't, because he had been waiting and pining for some mountain-hermit instead, sub-consciously hoping for things to happen between them that should never be happening.  
  
_Curse you, Red. Curse. You._  
  
His expression darkened as his hand wandered to arcanine's Pokéball. He usually wouldn't go with the type advantage; that was cheap and way too easy. But this guy had been nothing but disrespectful so far and Green just wanted to annihilate him on the spot. When arcanine materialized in front of him, she looked more determined than usual. She probably felt her trainer's tension.  
  
"I'll show you exactly what Kanto is capable of," Green snapped. "Don't get scared."  
  
The challenger laughed. "I already heard you were an arrogant piece of shit, Green Oak."  
  
The Gym Leader felt himself grow more and more frustrated with this man. So he did know who he was and yet he acted like battling him was no big deal.  
  
"Don't worry. I'm still gonna be a perfect gentleman when I win. It'll be embarrassing for you no matter what, though," the challenger continued.  
  
Green's right eye twitched, his arms were shaking from the tension. He shot a nervous glance to the audience ranks. The dark-clothes-clan was still wearing their smug expressions. Reuben and Melissa were on the edge of their seats, eyeing Green with apparent worry in their eyes. Gold was tightly squeezed between them. He looked nervous and pale, but at the same time confident, angry... and trusting. He trusted Green to win this. Why did he suddenly feel like he wouldn't, despite the type advantage?  
  
He did not want Gold to go around the next morning in school and tell everyone the Great Green Oak's arcanine had lost against a salad.  
  
This would _not_ be happening.  
  
He turned back to the challenger, and ice cold shivers ran down his spine at the piercing glare of his opponent. He no longer looked like he was joking around. "I happen to be a real gentleman as well." He made a sweeping gesture. "Ladies first."  
  
The challenger remained unfazed. All Green got for his clever retort was a grin. "Splendid. Roserade, you know what to do!"

* * *

  
The Gym reeked of sweat and fear. Gold didn't know how to describe fear as a scent, he just knew that if fear was a scent, it would be this. It went right through his nostrils and spread in his body like a disease.  
  
He awkwardly sat between Reuben and Melissa. You could cut through the tension with a knive right now. The two Ace-Trainers seemed to notice that too. They were literally and figuratively on the edge of their seats, and the young woman's hand hovered next to her knee like she was ready to protectively put it in front of him in case something happened. Gold didn't know Reuben or Melissa. He had no idea if they were always this tense during fights or if they had a reason for their behaviour. But he was sure of one thing: Mr. Green's current behaviour was definitely not normal during battles. He had watched youtube videos of him taking on the Elite 4 for the first time and even there he'd been calmer, for Arceus' sake.  
  
And now Mr. Green was the strongest Gym Leader in all of Kanto, he was a giant deal, and so far, no one had ever won against him. So while he always thought Mr. Green was a bit of a narcissist and extremely cocky, he was absolutely sure that he had every right to be as confident as he was. He was more talented than any other trainer in this region, safe for Red, Gold's absolute hero.  
  
And yet right now, he could see pearls of sweat on Mr. Green's forehead, and his hands, curled into fists, were shaking. He was bickering with the challenger, something about "arrogant piece of shit", "gentleman" and "Ladies first". Gold didn't really concentrate on it. His legs were aching and he just wanted to jump up and cheer Mr. Green on, but for once in his life, he didn't dare to do such a thing. The people in the audience ranks were creeping him the hell out and he didn't even know why. He didn't want to draw uneccessary attention to himself. Just now he noticed that his hand was hovering over the lonely Pokéball on his belt, which was the home to his shellder. Or rather, the school's shellder. It was the pokémon Mr. Green had assigned him with for the training lessons.  
  
The battle was finally beginning now, and Gold was somehow relieved that his teacher had chosen arcanine while the challenger had chosen roserade. This would be an easy win for Mr. Green. At least that's what Gold thought. Roserade withstood arcanine's flamethrower like it was just a warm breeze in summer. It didn't even try to dodge. Meanwhile arcanine was doing its best to avoid the mixture of powders the plant pokémon was throwing at it, but it was big and heavy while roserade was small and swift. The giant dog ended up poisoned within the first five minutes.  
  
Gold shot a nervous look at Mr. Green, who had a thoughtful and concentrated expression on his face. He knew he was thinking the same as him; something wasn't right here.  
  
"This roserade is quick and has such a high defense...it barely took any damage from the flamethrower" Melissa next to him mumbled thoughtfully.  
  
"It finished off my machomp in no time," Reuben agreed. "And as far as I know, the challenger didn't even heal it up after he defeated all of us. Yet it still has so much energy left..."  
  
"Um...", Gold piped up and felt awkward when the two older and more experienced trainers immediately looked at him, surprised that he even said anything at all. He blushed under their intense stares, especially Melissa's with her piercing blue eyes. If she was his age, he would so have made out with her already. "D...do you think something's not right?"  
  
Melissa snorted. "Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. If Green loses, he'll probably demand the challenger to take roserade to a Pokémon Center and make a blood test, and I'm sure they'll find something. Pokémon on steroids aren't allowed here."  
  
"And if he wins?"  
  
Reuben smirked. "I don't think his challengers cheating bothers him too much as long as he's the winner."  
  
Gold worriedly looked at the battle field again. "Do you think he can win?"  
  
He wanted the two Ace Trainers to tell him there was no way Mr. Green could lose, but they hesitated a few seconds too long before Melissa said: "Yeah. Yeah, maybe he can." But she looked nervous too.  
  
Gold desperately hoped he would. He didn't want the first time he finally got to watch the Green Oak battle to be the one where he horrifically lost against a challenger with no badges and a type disadvantage. As much as he didn't want to be one of those kids who expect their heroes to be perfect and abandon them when they make one mistake, he didn't think he would be able to look Mr. Green in the eyes anymore if he didn't leave this battle as the winner.  
  
Roserade was in the process of slamming arcanine on the ground right now with its vines, and Mr. Green's tension and nervosity had turned his face pale.  
  
"Arcanine is getting weaker," another Ace Trainer behind Gold said. She had short brown hair and wore a tight red jumpsuit. "And roserade still looks like it just came from the Pokémon Center."  
  
"I can't watch this," the Ace Trainer next to her mumbled and buried his face in his hands. He looked like he could be her brother; red sweat pants, a red training jacket, same facial features. Only that he had platin blonde hair.  
  
Gold was inclined to look away too. It wasn't looking good for Mr. Green. Arcanine was staggering on its feet, trying to find its balance, while roserade was getting ready to knock it down again. In that moment, it got hit by another flame thrower, but it still jumped around like nothing happened after that and charged at arcanine again.  
  
"Why is he so strong?", Melissa huffed and helplessly slapped her leg. "This doesn't make any sense!"  
  
Gold tried to stop listening to the Ace Trainers. The fact that they were nervous made him nervous. He wanted them to say that Mr. Green would definitely or at least most likely win, but the fact that they were only talking about how strong the challenger was seemed like some serious foreshadowing. While he intently focused on the battle beneath him, or at least told himself that this was what he was doing, the voices of the other occupants in the Gym were the ones who averted his attention yet again.  
They weren't talking as loudly as the Ace Trainers, they were whispering, and for some reason, the sound of it sent shivers down his spine. When he had seen them the first time, he had wondered if these silent, motionless creatures dressed in black could even talk at all, and seeing them actually do it was disconcerting, in a way.  
  
The only thing he heard was "Tonight", then sardonic laughter.  
Curiously, he edged a little closer to them to fully understand their conversation, but the only thing he achieved with that was being closer to Reuben, who was very loudly discussing Mr. Green's battle strategy with Melissa right now.  
  
Gold quietly stood up and stepped to the safety railing. Both Melissa and Reuben shot a look at him, but then seemed to decide that he was safe enough there. Carefully he made a few tiny steps to the side until he stood in front of Reuben, and from here, he could actually hear the people better.  
  
"...freaking fag for him anyway. Bet he'll come running in no time."  
  
"If he's not six feet under."  
  
"Hah! Look at that."  
  
"Huh? Oh, arcanine's in trouble."  
  
"Best Gym Leader of Kanto, my ass. Bet he only had his winning streak because all his challengers have been weak as shit."  
  
The anger that welled up inside of Gold took him by surprise. This was blatant blasphemy. Mr. Green was one of Kanto's biggest heroes, and he was one of Gold's biggest heroes. You do not insult the hero of a sixteen year old boy in front of his eyes.  
  
"So not true!", he snapped as he spun around.  
  
All the murmuring and discussing from the Ace Trainers stopped and they all stared at him. The two guys in black raised their eyebrows, but other than the Trainers, they looked mildly amused instead of surprised.  
  
"He only battles people who have at least seven badges and even they can't beat him!", Gold continued, trying not to sound like a defiant child, but knowing he was failing hard. The sudden attention he received didn't sit too well with him either. Melissa and Reuben seemed nervous about what to do now since Mr. Green had told them to take care of him and here he was, getting himself in trouble, but it wasn't like they could stop him. Reuben still tried, slightly tugging on his sleeve. "Come on, buddy, it's not worth it," he hissed, but neither Gold nor the people in black paid attention to it.  
  
"Oh, really? Weird, cause it seems like he's losing against a guy with no badges and the type disadvantage," one of the guys said, causing the other one and a few dark-clothes-people around them to laugh.  
  
"Because that guy is cheating," the girl with the brown hair calmly said, and Gold hated how relieved he was. He should be able to handle situations like this without hoping for a knight in shining armor to show up and save him. Especially if that knight was a girl. "And Green will ban him from this Gym permanently when he finds out. And he always finds out."  
  
The man averted his gaze to look back at the battle field. He seemed bored all of a sudden. "Oh, that'll hit Nathan hard. It has always been his dream to be just like Green. Make it to the League and then be a Champion for five minutes."  
  
The group erupted into cackling laughter.  
  
"Nathan, huh?", Gold said absent mindedly while looking at the man on the battle field. He somehow seemed less scary now that he had a name. Like a normal human being. But he still couldn't help thinking that something absolutely wasn't going the way it should. One time, Gold had seen a wild vulpix get run over by a bus. He had first seen the pokémon on an empty street and he already had a bad feeling the moment he laid eyes on it. Only a few seconds later, he heard the sound of a motor, then the horrific cracking sound vulpix' bones made, and its last terrified scream, a sound he would never in this lifetime forget. Right now, he felt the same way. There was no immediate danger, and yet Gold was sure he'd hear Mr. Green's bones crack at any moment.  
  
"Maybe," a rather corpulent one continued, ignoring Gold, "he'll wait only four minutes before he loses his Champion title. Then he can have a spot in the guiness world records book for being the shortest lived Champion right next to Green."  
  
"You can say about him whatever you want, but so far he has pulverised all of his competition," Melissa said with a hint  of pride in her voice. "When Giovanni was still the leader here, there were about ten registrations for the Ingio Leage every six months, but ever since Green took over, there have been zero. So how about you stop talking about stuff you don't understand."  
  
"You guys are hopelessly overworked, that's probably why you have no sense of humor. And Green, man, he's taking overworking to the next level! I mean, look at him, he's not really at his best right now, is he?"  
  
They all looked at the battle field where arcanine was getting slammed down by roserade's vines repeatedly with unbelievable power. The large dog was getting weaker and weaker by the second due to the poison, but Mr. Green still looked as determined as always, yelling commands and keeping his stance.  
  
"Don't worry, though. I have a feeling you're all going to have some time to relax tomorrow."  
  
Melissa frowned, and Gold had a bad feeling in his stomach. "What do you mean?", she asked, but the guy didn't have time to answer because at this moment, they heard a loud growl from the battle field and roserade's high pitched shriek.  
At first, all they saw was fire and a very exhausted arcanine. Then there was black smoke that bit into Gold's lungs, and he held his arm in front of his mouth and closed his eyes. When he finally felt safe to open them again, the air around him was getting clearer. Roserade and arcanine were swaying back and forth, and after moments that felt like hours, the plant pokémon finally fell. Arcanine followed a few seconds after that.  
  
Relief filled every fiber of Gold's body, and he instinctively put his arms in the air and gave Mr. Green his loudest cheer. Reuben, Melissa and the rest of Mr. Green's trainers jumped up from their seats too to rejoice at the victory. Gold somehow felt like this was about so much more than the battle. He knew Mr. Green winning was important for a far bigger, more important purpose than pride, a purpose so big that he himself was unable to comprehend it. All he wanted to do was hug everyone around him, especially Melissa, but she was already putting her arm around Reuben. Lucky bastard. Oh well. There were other ways to celebrate the victory. Like sticking out his tongue at the rest of the people in the audience ranks for example. But to his disbelief, they were still smiling. For a second, he wondered if they were actual humans or robots, and he resisted the urge to wave his hand in front of their faces. Instead, he climbed down from the chair as the cheering from the trainers calmed down and looked back at Mr. Green again.  
  
He was breathing hard, and boy, did he look pissed.  
  
Gold involuntarily flinched because he hadn't expected him to look that furious. He had won, hadn't he? Why wasn't he happy? Gold knew he wasn't the one the anger was directed at, and yet he shrank three sizes in his chair.  
The challenger still seemed weirdly unfazed. He gave roserade a revive, then he scoffed: "Wow, I see, Kanto trainers are somewhat talented."  
  
Uh oh.  
  
Everyone knew that Mr. Green was an absolute patriot, and insulting Kanto or its trainers in his presence was just about the dumbest thing you could do. Gold could somewhat understand that because Mr. Green, along with Red, had bled to give Kanto its good reputation back after it didn't have a Champion for about ten years and was ill-reputed as "the weakest and most unsuccesful region with the all time lowest statistics of producing valuable trainers". They were the ones who made Kanto one of the most respected regions out of all of them because, _hello_ , they were only sixteen and they both became Champions, which was something that had never happened in any region, ever, so how do you like that, _Regional Gossip?_  
  
Well, it was nice as long as it lasted, because Mr. Green's quick defeat and Red's disappearance had kind of turned Kanto into a joke again, but that still didn't give this Nathan guy the right to be outright disrespectful about it.  
  
But now, to Gold's surprise, Mr. Green didn't even react to the jab. "I want to see roserade's stats. Right now," he pressed through gritted teeth.  
  
Melissa arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Seems like he does care even though he won."  
  
Reuben nodded. "Yeah, I mean, it took him thirty minutes to win, that's an all time low for him. He even had to use two full restores this time. Usually it takes him ten minutes at the very most with no items, even when he has the disadvantage."  
  
"That's what he's upset about? Even though he won?" Melissa sighed dramatically and shook her head. "The male ego is so fragile."  
  
"Shut up, Melissa."  
  
Gold wished they would stop talking because he couldn't hear what Mr. Green and the challenger were saying anymore, he only saw that the man, who was currently giving roserade a revive, was obviously very reluctant to show him roserade's information, and Mr. Green was getting more and more upset.  
  
Gold decided that this was a dead givaway that Nathan actually had been cheating, and his heart felt even lighter than before. It wasn't incompetence that had given Mr. Green such a hard time during the battle.  
  
His relief didn't stay for long because suddenly something happened that not even he with his blabbermouth would tell anyone about because as much as he loved attention, he was absolutely sure that no one would believe this. The shock and disbelief shot into his chest when he looked at the battlefield. When had this happened? He hadn't looked away from the scene, so how was this happening? What was even happening? It was so surreal that he had to rub his eyes, but when he opened them again, Mr. Green was still hovering headfirst over the ground, his face distorted in an expression of pain.  
  
The Ace Trainers gasped and their hands wandered to their belts and their bags.  
  
"Where are my revives? What the hell?", Melissa yelled in a panic.  
  
"Mine are gone too!", Reuben said, trying to stay calm. "Do you guys have any?"  
  
"No! Fuck!", another Ace Trainer yelled. "I grabbed myself some from the store room this morning, what the hell happened to 'em?"  
  
Gold was frozen in his panic, and the situation was even more terrifying when he saw the helpless looks in the trainers' faces. They had no pokémon, so they were useless. Melissa and Reuben ran down the stairs to help Mr. Green without their pokémon, but the invisible force that kept his teacher in the air threw each of them left and right against the wall. They were still conscious, but they didn't get back up, they were too baffled, and the fear was written on their faces.  
  
The other Ace Trainers were panicking, and Gold felt the urge to hide under his seat and wait until this whole thing was over. He felt like any moment, this force could hit him too and break his neck, and this thought alone caused him to start panicking.  
  
But he was probably the only one here who had a pokémon that was able to fight, so he had to do something.  
  
Don't think. Just do.  
  
How the hell had Red managed to take down Team Rocket by himself back then? How could a sixteen year old be so incredibly brave? Gold felt ashamed of himself because he still couldn't move, and Mr. Green was still hovering over the ground, pathetically thrashing about like a bug on its back.  
  
"I'm gonna kick Team Rocket's asses, just like Red did!" That's what he had said just yesterday in a classroom full of people. While he was safe and not actually in a dangerous situation. But now?  
  
"Gold could also be one of the exceptions we talked about."  
  
That had been Mr. Green. Gold took a deep breath. If his teacher thought he was somewhat comparable with Red, then he could deal with this too. Mind made up, he called out shellder, but when he looked at the battle field, Mr. Green was already on the ground again, lying on his back and breathing hard. The invisible force had slammed him straight back to the ground, and he was quietly moaning in pain. The dark clothed people in the audience ranks were laughing again, pointing fingers at him and clearly enjoying the way he was writhing on the ground. Gold wanted to yell at them, but instead he yelled Mr. Green's name and ran down the stairs before the Ace Trainers could stop him.  
  
"Mr. Green! Are you alright?", he asked when he had reached him.  
  
The young man propped himself up on his elbows, and the fire in his eyes was back like nothing had happened. It scared Gold a little and he backed away a few steps. He didn't know Mr. Green like this and he hoped he'd never see him like this again.  
  
"Oh wow, what was that?", Nathan asked, but it sounded sarcastic. "Are you alright, ex-Champ? I could have sworn you were flying for a few seconds!"  
  
He held out a hand for Mr. Green, who slapped it away and jumped back on his feet. Gold noticed the way he grimaced in suppressed pain.  
  
"No, I don't know what it was, but I'm pretty sure you had something to do with it, so how about you tell me?", he snapped.  
  
"But Green, don't be silly. How in the world should I have done that? Do you see any psychic types on me? Maybe your Gym is the problem? When was the last time your Gym got checked for safety hazards?"  
  
Mr. Green was about to lose his patience. "It got checked last week and no safety hazards were found. This Gym has existed for over three hundred years and there have never been any safety hazards until you came along with your unreasonably strong roserade!"  
  
"Are you sure about that? It would be incredibly irresponsible to battle in such an unsafe Gym while a kid is inside."  
  
He gave Gold a stare with his piercing eyes, and the boy felt the immature urge to hide behind his teacher.  
  
"Leave him out of it," Mr. Green snarled. "I want to know who the fuck you think you are to come to my Gym with zero badges, trying to win against me by cheating!"  
  
Gold flinched at his tone. He was sixteen, he could handle curse words, but hearing them from a teacher was just wrong. Mr. Green had totally just ruined fuck for him. Fuck. Fuckidy Fuck. He almost giggled.  
  
"Oh, please, now let's not make assumptions here, shall we? Who says I'm cheating?"  
  
"Show me roserade's stats then."  
  
"Since I lost, you have no legal right to demand that from me."  
  
Mr. Green's fists were slightly shaking. "Well, then I'm under no legal obligation to believe you."  
  
"Oh, I always heard you were a sore loser. Isn't it possible, Green, that you're just not at your peak anymore? You're getting older, more tired, you start to make mistakes. This was your worst battle yet, wasn't it? Despite the type advantage." He shook his head like he was trying to be compassionate and clicked his tongue. "But I obviously overestimated you because you're the grandson of the famous Professor Oak. I completely forgot that you're not even nearly on the level of people like, I don't know, Red."  
  
Mr. Green's facial color had changed from white to scarlet.  
  
"Oh, and wasn't your mother part of Team Rocket?"  
  
Now Mr. Green's arms started shaking again.  
  
"I mean, I heard she was hella strong, despite the fact that she was a total crackhead, but I guess that didn't quite transfer onto you."  
  
Mr. Green was breathing hard.  
  
"Didn't give two shits about her kids, eh? Probably would've traded you and your sister for a pack of cigarettes. Now that I think of it...your gramps would probably also trade you for some new equipment."  
  
With a growl that almost sounded like his arcanine's, Mr. Green lunged at the challenger again, this time obviously to attack him. Gold's eyes widened in horror. What was going on with him? Then he realized what was about to happen next and his heart nearly stopped. Nathan grinned snarkily like he had been waiting for this.  
  
"Shellder, use protect!", Gold yelled before he could even think about what he was doing.  
  
Mr. Green managed to stop right in front of the invisible shield. At the same moment, razor sharp leafs from roserade's flower hands bounced off just before him. Gold was actually horrified now. These leafs could have fatally injured Mr. Green if it wasn't for the protect shield.  
  
Just as he thought about that, he suddenly realized that his teacher could have been dead if Math hadn't been cancelled and Gold hadn't come to the Gym today. He needed to sit down.  
  
"The fuck was that?", Mr. Green revolted.  
  
The challenger just shrugged. "I think I'm correct with the assumption that you were about to attack me. I was merely defending myself."  
  
"Defending yourself? From what?", Melissa, who had finally gotten up again, yelled while she approached them. Her face was crimson red. "From him? You weigh about a thousand pounds more than Green!"  
  
"Ah, you're right, maybe I was overreacting. That lightweight probably couldn't even hurt a caterpie, eh?"  
  
He earned laughter from the audience ranks.  
  
"It was just a reflex. And just so you know before you go running to the police, I'm legally absolutely within my rights to defend myself in whatever way possible. Who knows, you could have had a weapon with you."  
  
"I wish," Mr. Green said between gritted teeth.  
  
"See? There we go."  
  
"I want you to leave my Gym. Right the fuck now."  
  
"Alright, I will. I understand you still need to train and cope with the fact that you're starting to lose your punch."  
  
Mr. Green raised his fist. "I could give you a punch, I'm sure you don't even know what it looks like!"  
  
"Now, now, no need to be violent, kid."  
  
"OUT!"  
  
Gold was sure everyone in a thirty kilometer radius around the Gym had flinched at that voice. Everyone but Nathan, who gave Mr. Green a mock-salute. "Smell ya later," he scoffed.  
  
Mr. Green looked like he was just about to explode, but he kept himself together as the rest of the people came down the stairs. They all gave him smug looks as they walked past him. One of them blew a kiss at him and winked, which seemed to make the young man even more upset. When they were finally out of the Gym, Reuben and the rest of the Ace Trainers ran down to the little group on the battle field.  
  
"Green, are you okay?", the girl with the brown hair panted.  
  
"Yes," he barked at her, then he spun around to look at Gold. The boy jumped at his expression. It was like his teacher had channeled all his anger from his entire life into this one stare. Gold suddenly felt tiny. "I told you to stay with them."  
  
He hadn't actually told him that, but Gold didn't bother correcting him, he was still trying to mentally cope with the fact that his favourite teacher had just snapped at him for the very first time ever.  
  
"Green, he just saved your sorry behind!", Reuben said, and the boy gave him a grateful look. "Those razor leafs could have easily killed you! What the hell were you thinking?"  
  
Mr. Green sighed, trying to calm down. For a few moments, it looked like he was going to get mad again, but then he took a deep breath and his eyes finally lost the ferocious spark. "Nothing," he mumbled.  
  
"Yeah, we could see that!", Melissa snapped. "You would be dead now if it wasn't for this kid! You're not usually so short tempered, and you sure as hell never physically attacked someone before! You brought yourself and the kid in danger!"  
  
At that, Mr. Green did perk up, and Gold could see some serious regret in his eyes.  
  
Melissa's expression softened when he didn't answer and she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Green, what's going on?"  
  
He was silent for a few more seconds, then he shook his head. "Nothing," he said again. "It was stupid. Gold, I....I'm sor...thank you. That was really brave of you and you reacted really quickly; that was impressive. But it's my job to protect you and not the other way around, so...just don't do something like this again, aight?"  
  
Gold hastily nodded, and Mr. Green gave him a pat on the back, which made the boy sigh with relief and beam with pride.  
  
"You should go home now. And please do me a favor: don't tell anyone what happened today. That'll just cause uneccessary panic."  
  
"Unneccessary?!" Melissa harshly slapped Mr. Green up his head, and Gold gasped at her nerve, waiting for the young man to lose his temper once and for all, maybe even fire her, but he just flinched a little and glared at her. "Seriously, Green, you were hovering over the ground. Reuben and I were thrown into a wall. All of our revives magically disappeared. And those people in black creeped me the hell out!"  
  
"That was probably just some psychic pokémon messing with us. I'll go check later if there's a hypno here somewhere. The revives didn't 'magically disappear', you guys probably just lost them again, or you overused them without noticing and now they're all gone. Wouldn't be the first time. And as for our men in black, they were just some unemployed idiots trying to cause some trouble."  
  
"You're an idiot if you truly believe that. Or highly delusional."  
  
"Melissa...," Reuben said now, and she sighed.  
  
"Alright, alright, sorry. Believe whatever you wanna believe, boss. But-," she jabbed him in the chest with her pointer finger, "don't tell the kid he's not allowed to talk about it, got it?" When he reluctantly half-nodded, she then turned to Gold, put her hand on his shoulder and looked down at him with a smile. "That was really, really brave of you. You saved all of us today. Thank you."  
  
Gold thought his chest would burst with pride at this moment. He didn't even know what to say, but Melissa didn't seem to expect an answer. She just shot Mr. Green one last deadly glare, and he rolled his eyes at her before turning to the boy again.  
  
"She's right, you did well. I'd still prefer if you didn't tell anyone, but do whatever you want. Don't really care for getting slaughtered by one of my employees, ya know? She scares me sometimes."  
  
Gold didn't believe anyone could be scarier than Mr. Green had been today, but he grinned back knowingly.  
  
"You should go home now. And take care."  
  
"Sure thing! And...thanks, Mr. Green, for letting me watch!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Mr. Green was already turning his back on him, and Gold saw a slight limp in his walk. It was weird, not seeing him in his ridiculously good mood and with his overly confident demeanor, but he shrugged it off.  
This day was still awesome. He could still feel Melissa's warm hand on his arm, and although he knew that he was just a little kid to her, he liked to think she had a thing for him.  
  
As he walked home, he had already forgotten all the things he'd heard the people in black whisper to each other during the battle, and only remembered when he saw the Gym in the news later that day.

* * *

  
"Green, are you sure you're okay?", Reuben asked carefully.  
  
He was watching Green, who was trying to put weight onto his leg and grimacing in the process. It seemed like he hadn't expected someone to actually see him so it despite the fact that all of their attention was focused on him. He immediately stopped when he heard Reuben's voice, and his mouth corners slightly curled into a something that somehow resembled a smile. This one time however, he didn't quite manage to make it look convincing. "This was nothing. Quit starin' at me like I'm a damn stripper and get your pokémon healed, will ya?"  
  
"You're limping," Melissa said, sounding unimpressed by his snarky tone.  
  
"Yeah, and?"  
  
"Yeah, and?", she mocked him. "You need to see a doctor. Stop acting all tough, damnit. Take the day off."  
  
Reuben was relieved that Melissa was here because she was the only one who was brave enough to call Green out on his bullshit and voice her concern. Without her, the Gym Leader would probably pull all-nighters here every day and demand his Ace Trainers to train until they couldn't walk anymore. He hadn't been like that at first, but then Champion Red surprisingly disappeared three years ago and the whole world just went in the crapper. Green had been unbearable for an entire year, asking them to work overtime and never being happy with their results. They all did it without complaining because working for Green Oak had been a big dream for all of them, and getting in this position wasn't easy at all since he was picky and not really happy about receiving help in the first place. The Ace Trainers knew that a lot of people would die to trade places with them, and they didn't want to mess it up.  
  
It was Melissa who eventually put her foot down, and Green had been offended at first by her harsh tone, but eventually had to admit that she was right. He was more lenient on them after that, but still showcased concerning signs of depression. They all knew that it had to have something to do with the Champion's disappearance. After all, Green had always spoken so highly of Red. Sure, he was obviously still a little bitter, but overall, the admiration he had for his rival outweighed that by far. Green loved hearing himself talk, and Red had been the main topic of his chattering nine out of ten times. He stopped talking about him when he suddenly wasn't there anymore, and that's when Green seemed to be losing a part of himself. It was one year later when he suddenly burst into the Gym with so much energy that they all jumped. They were even more concerned after that because Sarah, their Ace Trainer colleague with brown hair and a red sports jumpsuit, talked about how people who decided they were going to end their lives sometimes had a sudden burst of energy and happiness. But the good mood stayed and Green was content. He still overworked, he still had mood swings and he was still a really difficult person, but Melissa had him in the palm of her hand, so it was bearable.  
  
"I am taking the day off," he said now while trying to put weight on his leg one last time as if he thought it had magically gotten healed in the past minute.  
  
"Green, I'm serious, you...wait, what?"  
  
"I have plans for today."  
  
"You mean...plans involving other humans?", Sarah asked with wide eyes.  
  
He frowned. "Yeah...?"  
  
"Like....real actual people? Just for fun? Without battles? Without any business talk?", her brother, Johnny, added, dumbfounded.  
  
Green glowered at them. "You guys are assholes, you know that? Yes, actual human beings, no battles, no business talk! Am I that pathetic?"  
  
"Not pathetic...," Melissa hesitated. "It's just...ever since...you know... Red left, you've been kind of down. You stopped talking to all your other friends and stuff, so..."  
  
"Yeah, I totally thought you were going to spend the night here again," Sarah said. "Last week I came to the Gym in the morning, and I heard someone snoring upstairs in his office. It was so loud, at first I thought a snorlax had somehow snuck in, but..."  
  
"Okay, we get it, Sarah," Green grumbled.  
  
"Oh, and I drove by his house at four AM a few days ago...," Johnny added.  
  
"You did _what?"_  
  
"...and his lights were still on. That's a bit concerning, boss."  
  
"Alright, alright, I get it. Jeeze, I miss the times where I was running the Gym all by myself. You guys can all take the day off too. Go home."  
  
"Really?!", Reuben and Melissa said at the same time.  
  
"Yes, really, now get outta my sight! And Johnny- don't drive by my house at four AM ever again, that's creepy as hell."  
  
"Wow...uh...thanks, Green, that's... really nice actually," Melissa stammered. "But, um...seriously, go see a doctor, okay? And take it easy, please."  
  
"Whatever. Don't forget to lock the Gym today. See ya." He saluted them, and off he went.  
  
The Ace Trainers stood there for a good five minutes, looking at the door in amazement.  
  
"Melissa?", Reuben said.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How will I ever get rid of the mental image of Green as a stripper?"

* * *

  
Green cursed. He had sprained his leg, no doubt about that. Like a helpless little ledyba, he had been manhandled and sprained his damned leg in the process. His grandfather and Red would definitely get suspicious about that, no matter what he said, so he might as well tell them the truth, although he really wasn't in the mood for the Team Rocket talk. If he was lucky, Oak would be too focused on his Golden Boy to notice the limp. But Red, he was observant. Sometimes Green felt like he was a mother hen, always concerned about others and always freaking the fuck out when someone got hurt. It was one of the things he had always been jealous of: his ability to feel other peoples' pain like it was his own and his ability to actually help these people. Everyone always thought Green was the social one out of the two of them, but he was just able to connect to new people and talk to them.  
  
Red, he was able to read people, to look inside of them and figure out exactly who they were, what they liked or disliked, why they did or didn't do certain things, and what he could do to make them feel comfortable or uncomfortable, if he ever abused his power. It kind of creeped Green out sometimes, and it made him wonder if he was such an open book for his friend too. The thought terrified him because he knew Red would be horrified at what he'd see. Green liked to think he was like an apple; beautiful on the outside, but foul on the inside. So he had to do anything he could to only ever let him see the good part of him, the happy part, the beautiful part. His friendship with Red was the only thing in the world he could never afford messing up. He didn't know why, he just knew that it was important and that he had to do everything in his might to keep up the fassade.  
  
That included not letting his guard down and not showing him he got hurt in the Gym today. And it also included not giving away that he himself was starting to get worried now. Or was he? He didn't want to be worried, didn't want to be part of the horde of cringy conspiracists who just made stuff up because their lives were so boring, but if he admitted something was wrong to himself, then he just knew it would become reality, and that would just upset him. He should really avoid that; at his last doctor's appointment, Dr. Matthews had already warned him that his blood pressure was "unusually high for a younker like you".  
  
I'll tell them I tripped. Nothing more. No biggie. And if Gold tells anyone what really happened, I'll tell them what I told Melissa. Just a psychic pokémon who snuck into the Gym and did some shenanigans.  
  
He felt himself calm down a little. Lying was his field of expertise, and making himself believe his own lies was easy because he was desperate enough to buy into anything that slightly reassured him. It would be easy to convince Red and gramps of the same thing. Red had lots of empathy, sure, but so far, he had believed Green's facade. Why shouldn't he now?  
  
Whistling and with elated steps- or as elated as they could be with his bad leg-, Green went to the Pokémon Center to heal his arcanine. Suddenly, he felt like everything was going to be okay. Inside the building, a familiar face greeted him.    
  
"Green?"  
  
It was Pat. He gave her his widest, most charming grin. She was about twice his age, and for as long as he had known her, she had been a tough no-nonsense woman, and yet she gave him a flustered, but flattered smile at his greeting.  
  
"Hey, Pat! Lookin' good! What's up?", he asked.  
  
Pat laughed. "Sweetheart, you're too handsome and I'm too old for you to be lookin' at me like that," she joked and slapped him on the chest.  
  
He grinned at her. "Nonsense. If I didn't know better, I would have guessed you were my age."  
  
She lightly slapped him again, this time on his arm. "Stop lying, you rascal. Such a charmer, as always."  
  
Green knew that Pat would never start anything with him; it was harmless teasing. She was just about the age of his latest conquests, but he wasn't really into her, and it would have felt icky anyway. After all, he had known her since he was a little kid. Not to mention that apart from owning the beauty salon that Delia worked in, she was the cleaning lady in his Gym. Boy, that would become an awkward work environment. So he just winked and grinned at her remark, then changed the topic.  
  
"You know me. Hey, but what'cha doing here in Viridian City? Isn't your salon in Pallet?", he asked.  
  
"Ah, yes, something came up." She suddenly seemed nervous, slightly raising her hands like she was about to say something difficult. "That's why I'm glad I ran into you. I won't be able to clean your Gym tonight. Just here so Mr. Mime can get a little health check and then I need to go to Johto."  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"  
  
"I was gonna call you!", she quickly said. "And, well, I hope that's okay! I'll be back in Kanto early in the morning and the first thing I'll do is clean the Gym!"  
  
Green thought about it for a second. It was mandatory for every Gym to get thoroughly cleaned at the end of the day. When things like poison powder were left in a room for too long, they could pollute the air and become a serious health hazard.  
On the other hand, it was just a difference of about eight hours. When he first became a Gym Leader, he hadn't even known that this rule existed in the first place, so his Gym had been dirty for about three days, and nothing happened. Maybe the League was overdoing it with the whole Hygiene-standards nonsense. Wouldn't be the first time they exaggerated and made things look more important than they really were.  
  
"What does 'early in the morning' mean?", he asked.  
  
"Half past four."  
  
He nodded and brightly smiled at her again. "Alright, why not. You have family in Johto?"  
  
"Huh? Ah, yes, yes, exactly." She seemed way too excited about his little half hearted guess, and he frowned, but then she continued. "My brother, he had a car accident. He'll be fine, but I'm still worried."  
  
"Oh, sorry about that. Hope he recovers!"  
  
"Thank you, Green, really!"  
  
"Not a problem." He gave her another toothy grin. "Greetings to your family. See ya tomorrow."  
  
Then they went their seperate ways. Green felt her eyes on his back, and when he glanced over his shoulder, she had a guilty expression on her face before she turned around and left.  
Oh well. He had told her it was okay, there was no need for her to feel bad. And if she wanted to ruin her own day by feeling bad anyway, that was her problem.  
  
He limped up to the counter and gave Nurse Joy arcanine's Pokéball. While she put it in the machine, he started chattering her up, but she only listened with half an ear. He didn't miss the way her eyes roamed over his body though, and that was enough to make this crappy day at least a little better. He didn't want to ruin this tiny progress by going home already. A look at his watch told him it was 12:45 PM, so he still had plenty of time until the dinner at Red's house. He shot a look outside the window at his Gym, where he had told his Ace Trainers he was taking the day off and going to see a doctor, but he didn't like the idea of being unproductive when the day was still so young. For a moment, he considered going to his old apartment and doing some paperwork there, but then he hissed in pain the second he started putting some weight on his leg and decided that Melissa was probably right and he should actually go see Dr. Matthews. He could give him some painkillers, and maybe then, Red and Oak wouldn't even notice his little injury.  
  
When his arcanine got healed, he limped out of the building. With his excuse ready, it was easier to suppress the memory of the events in the Gym today, so as he called out his charizard to climb on his back and fly to Dr. Matthews, he was already whistling again.

* * *

  
Red somehow knew he was sleeping; he didn't hear the noises his mother made in the kitchen when she prepared the dinner, he didn't feel the soft cotton under his stomach and he didn't smell the fresh scent of the fabric softener on his bedding. The only thing he felt was the thudding in his head that was getting stronger and stronger. He wasn't aware of it, it was just there. Meanwhile, pictures flashed in front of his inner eye, thoughts that he usually loved to think, but that were so hectic and chaotic right now that it made his arms and legs twitch. He saw Green's intelligent, curious, cat-like eyes and his laugh that made his heart churn. He saw his mother's bright and genuine smile. And then it all changed, and suddenly the same picture repeated itself in his head no matter how hard he tried to think other thoughts; Team Rocket walking through Pallet. Nothing more; just them walking through it. They weren't doing anything, but Red still started tossing and turning in his bed until he finally woke up, one hand on a Pokéball, the other one clawing at his bed post.  
  
Breathing hard, he sat up and tried to make sense of the dream sequences, but his head was still hurting so much that it became a chore. He let himself fall back on his pillows; he felt exhausted and wide awake at the same time, neither wanted to sleep, nor to stay awake, and the thoughts didn't stop running through his mind like crazy. It was exhausting. A look at his watch told him that it was already 2:30 PM, which was concerning and relieving at the same time. Concerning because he had just slept for two whole hours during the day, which had never happened because it had never been necessary, and relieving because that meant Green and Professor Oak would be here soon. He couldn't say he was particulary looking forward to Oak, but he somehow felt like he needed Green's company right now. He yawned and breathed in the smell of lasagna, freshly baked baguette and créme brúlée. His mom had promised she'd make Green's favorite dinner, and Red should have figured that at least half of it would consist of Kalosian specialities. He just hoped she had prepared a vegan alternative for him. He wasn't hungry, he just didn't want to be the only one at the table who wasn't eating anything.  
  
Still too tired to get up, but too awake to lay back down, he sat in his bed for a few moments, staring into nothing until his eyelids didn't feel as heavy anymore, then he hoisted himself to his feet and dragged himself downstairs.  
The smell of food was so strong here that he could almost taste it already, and for a moment, the nostalgia was overwhelming. In the next moment however, it made him realize how not hungry he was, and he felt guilty about it because he now saw that his mom actually had bothered to make a vegan lasagna for him. He watched her whirl around in the kitchen for a moment, quietly singing to herself. The way she moved made her look like she was dancing. He remembered her exactly like this; always filling the house with the smell of good, homecooked meals, with music and with happiness. It felt good to see her like this again.  
  
When she took a look over her shoulder and spotted him, she smiled.  
  
"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"  
  
He shook his head and rubbed his left eye. "Nahh. You should've though. I slept for two hours."  
  
"If you slept for so long, that means your body needed rest." She cocked her head and examined him. "How are you feeling? You look better than before."  
  
Red shrugged. He couldn't say he was feeling better than before. His headache had gotten stronger and was now accompanied by neckpains. "I'm okay."  
  
Delia raised an eye brow, but didn't comment on it and returned to her cooking. "Did you see that I bought you new clothes?"  
  
"No? When? Where?"  
  
"I already washed and ironed them. They're on the couch."  
  
"Wow, thanks, mom!"  
  
"I didn't do it for you, I just can't bear seeing you walk around in these old shreds anymore. I think the last time I sent you proper clothes to MT. Silver was a year ago."  
  
"Still, thanks!"  
  
He sat down at the kitchen table and took out his phone- realizing that this was starting to become a habit-, viewing whatsapp and lazily scrolling through his conversations. Sub-consciously because he didn't want to make this fact conscious, he had kind of hoped Green had texted him. But the last message from him was still "Home now. Gn".  
  
For no particular reason, he suddenly felt the urge to write something, but he had no idea what.  
  
"Red!"  
  
His mother's voice made him jump, especially because it suddenly sounded so loud in his ears.  
  
He looked up from his phone in confusion.  
  
"I just told you I bought you new clothes, could you please pick something out and put it on before Green and Sam come here?"  
  
Red felt the familiar urge to roll his eyes, and suddenly he was sixteen and his mother was at her wits' end again.  
  
He gave her a formal nod instead and said "Certainly, mother."  
  
Now she was the one who rolled her eyes, but at least she smiled. Red pushed back his chair to get up.  
  
"Your dad was the same way," Delia said unexpectedly, and Red stopped dead in his tracks. They had never talked much about Angus Tajiri after his death. "I'd say something to make him do something and it completely flew over his head. I guess most men are this way."  
  
She looked over her shoulder for a second before turning her attention back to her craft. "You look exactly like him now."  
  
He waited for more, but nothing came, and he knew he should say something, but he had no idea what or how, so after just motionlessly standing there for a good minute, he slowly and awkwardly walked over to the couch, where a pile of fresh laundry was neatly stacked up.  
  
Quietly he looked through it. There was a white shirt with red sleeves that had "96" written on it, his birth date. Then a long red coat without sleeves, and a black pullover.  
  
And....  
  
"Flame pants, mom?"  
  
"Do you like them? I thought they'd fit you because charizard is always your first choice for everything according to Green."  
  
"I love charizard, that doesn't mean I need to wear it."  
  
"Okay then, mister Fashion Police."  
  
Red laughed, relieved at the subject change, and the tension disappeared.  
  
The next shirt he picked out was white with black, half long sleeves. Delia glanced over her shoulder again. "This will look good on you. It's the only thing I could find that looks almost neat and that you'd be willing to wear."  
  
"It's not red," he noted while holding the shirt in front of him and examining it from all possible angles.  
  
"Oh no! How will people remember your name now?"  
  
"Har har." While still eyeing the shirt suspiciously, he took off his old admittedly dirty and roughed up one to put the new shirt on. "How do I look?"  
  
She turned around and smiled widely. "Oh, sweety, you look amazing!" Then she suddenly frowned and added: "You'd look even more amazing in a dress shirt though."  
  
"No."  
  
She sighed and rolled her eyes again. "Hasn't changed a bit, that kid..."  
  
The door bell rang in that moment and Red was strangely relieved. Delia was closer to the door, so she went to open it while drying her hands on an old kitchen towel.  
Only when her hand was already on the handle, Red remembered that this would be the moment where Professor Oak would see him for the first time in three years. He didn't notice his hands clenching into fists, but he did notice the throbbing in his head becoming stronger.  
  
Then the door opened, and Professor Oak was standing there in all his glory. Red hadn't gotten a chance to look at him- really look at him- when he met him in his Jack-disguise, but now he noticed that the old man looked a bit paler and skinnier than three years ago, and the lines in his face had gotten more defined. For once, he wasn't wearing his lab coat. Instead, he wore white pants and a black dress shirt that made him look younger than he really was. In his hand, he was holding a colorful bouquet of flowers. He gave Delia a slight nod and a wide smile.  
  
"Good afternoon, Delia. Thank you so much for inviting Green and me." He held out the flowers for her.  
  
"Oh, Samuel, you didn't have to!" She took the flowers nonetheless and Red knew she was happy about them nonetheless. His mother loved flowers, all flowers. "Thank you so much! Come in!"  
  
Red frowned when he noticed the remarkable absence of loud sarcastic comments and exuberant greetings. Once again, he looked at his phone, but there were no messages from Green.  
  
"Where is Green?", Delia voiced his thoughts.  
  
Professor Oak sighed and his mouth was pinched into a disapproving line. Red had seen this expression on parents' faces very often. It was that "My kid is behaving irrationally and I know you totally get me because you have a kid too"-face.  
  
"Your Majesty will come half an hour later. Suddenly the boy remembered that he still had to get something done in Viridian City."  
  
"Oh, that's not a problem! I'll just keep the food warm in the oven. Sit down, I think there's a lot to talk about anyway, right?"  
  
She turned her head to give Red a warm smile. Only now, Professor Oak noticed his presence, and for a second, he seemed in such awe that you could think he'd just had a spiritual encounter.  
  
"Red," he breathed, and the young man wouldn't be surprised if he fell on his knees and asked Red to bless him.  
  
He gave him a formal nod and tried his best to smile, but in reality, his heart was up in his throat. The old man had this presence that made you shut up immediately. This vibe that told you he knew everything and that he knew it better than you. As much as he disliked the old man sometimes, he had to admit that he respected him a lot. "Professor Oak" was all he got out.  
  
The professor had already strode over him and reached out his hand, and Red quickly grabbed it. Oak had a firm, warm handshake, and the look he gave Red was reverent, but also appraising. "Good to have you back, kid." With his other hand, he gave Red a clap on the shoulder. "Kanto was missing its strongest trainer."  
  
Red didn't like the fact that the compliment made his chest swell with pride. But everyone knew that Professor Oak wasn't lavish when it came to compliments. Red hated the high regard and the approval everyone had for him because he knew things like that could easily get lost or broken if you didn't carefully watch them. And yet he couldn't get enough of it because it was proof that he hadn't disappointed people yet. Soaking up Oak's compliments felt like he was betraying Green.  
  
"Here, of course I also brought you something." The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, fancy package.  
  
Red eyed it suspiciously. He still didn't know what to say.  
  
"Open it!"  
  
When Red did, there was a small piece of paper lying on red velvet. He quickly identified it as a ticket for the MS. Anne.  
  
He looked up into Professor Oak's expectant face.  
  
"What is it?", Delia asked and came over. Her expression fell when she saw the ticket.  
  
"Samuel," she scolded while sternly waggling her pointer in front of his face. "He only came back just now, don't give him ideas!"  
  
"It doesn't have to be right now," Oak said calmly and gave her a reassuring smile. "The ticket is valid for the entire year, and you can travel wherever you want with it. You should take the chance. You're the leader of Kanto, kid. People will trust you more if you're a bit knowledgable about the world."  
  
Red liked to believe that he wasn't as bribable as he had been when he was still a teenager, but in this moment, the gratitude he felt for Oak was overwhelming, and his guilt about Green was completely forgotten.  
  
"I...thank you...thank you so much..." he breathed while looking at the ticket.  
  
Delia rolled her eyes for the nth time this day, but smiled fondly while walking back into the kitchen. "Things haven't changed much I see. Always on the run, that boy."  
  
"There's one more thing I want you to know: in two months, there will be a big tournament in Unova. All Champions and Gym Leaders will fight against each other. I need you to represent Kanto."  
  
Red's smile froze.  
  
"But...Professor..."  
  
"You're free to decide yourself," Professor Oak said in a tone that told him that he better make the right decision. "But I need you to tell me soon enough. And don't forget: you're doing this for your country. You're our leader, it'd neither look good for you nor for us if you were the only Champion who's not there."  
  
"And Green?"  
  
"I haven't talked about it with him yet, but I assume he won't want to miss it."  
  
Red nodded and raised the ticket up a little. "This is...thank you. Thanks. I'll think about it."  
  
Professor Oak nodded back with a big smile and seemed pleased with the answer. He gave Red one more clap on the shoulder before turning to Delia again.  
  
"It smells delightful, Delia! Is there anything I can help you with?"  
  
Red didn't listen for the answer, he just stared at the ticket and couldn't help the giddy excitement he felt when he read it over and over again.  
The only thing that darkened his mood was the thought of the tournament. Going there would require him to tell the world that he wasn't dead. But hadn't he planned that anyway?  
  
And Green would be there, too! They could go there together, maybe even share a room...  
  
"Red?", his mom called from the kitchen. "Our _guest_ is helping me in the kitchen right now, what does that tell you?"  
  
He sighed and gently put the ticket back into the box that looked way too fancy for this little piece of paper. But Professor Oak had always been prone to extravagance. A simple envelope would have been enough.  
  
He put the dishes on the table, and although Oak was practicing casual small talk with his mom, he could tell that his attention was focused on him the entire time. He suddenly became uncomfortably aware that the two of them were actually talking about him.  
  
"...and suddenly just stood there," his mom currently said. "Out of nowhere! I thought I was going to faint."  
  
"I hope you gave him a piece of your mind," Professor Oak joked and winked at Red.  
  
"I give him a little bit of it every day," Delia laughed and gave her son an affectionate gaze. It made him feel uneasy that they were both looking at him now.  
  
"Ah, punishment in installments," Oak chuckled. It was unbelievable to Red that this was the same man that had made Green feel miserable so often.  
  
"Exactly! It's an excellent method for sons who ran off to mountains. It doesn't scare them away immediately, but also lets them know that you're still mad."  
  
They both laughed, and Red had never been so happy to hear the door bell before.  
  
"I get it!", he said as he rushed to the door.  
  
"That must be Green," Oak said, and his playful tone turned curt.  
  
Indeed, Green was standing in front of the door with a big plate in his hands that had something neatly wrapped in tinfoil on it. He was wearing his beige pants with his black dress shirt, and the strong cloud of deodorant and hair gel that greeted Red- mixed with the faint smell of cigarettes, as he noted disapprovingly- told him that his friend had just spent a great deal of time in front of the mirror. It had paid off though. His hair was arranged in those long spikes that gave him that cheeky, reckless look he loved about him, and his clothes made him look slim and yet vigorous. Red felt himself relax, and he could have sworn that even his throbbing headache had gotten weaker.  
  
For a second, Green's eyes widened when he saw Red and he just stared, then he grinned. "Who are you and what have you done to my friend?"  
  
He was confused, until he realized that he was talking about his new shirt.  
  
"It's part of my new lifestyle," he joked and spread his arms a little. "Do you like it?"  
  
"I can barely contain my excitement," Green smirked and cocked his head. "So, will ya let me in or am I supposed to watch you eat from outside the window?"  
  
"That was my idea too, but my mom said no."  
  
"Jerk."  
  
As Green tried to walk past him, Red stopped him with a hand on his chest and whispered: "Don't forget what we wanted to talk about later."  
  
Green sighed and became annoyed in a fraction of a second. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Then he pushed past him and waltzed into the room like he was a movie star. And yet...Red frowned when he noticed that his friend was walking weirdly.  
  
"I'm here!", Green announced with an excessive gesture.  
  
"Oh hi, welcome!", Delia said and pulled him into a tight hug, then looked at the plate. "What is this?"  
  
"I stopped at the bakery on my way back. It's strawberry cake. I could have probably made something better myself, but I didn't have the time."  
  
"You don't say," Professor Oak muttered from his seat. "You're already late enough as it is."  
  
"Hello, gramps," Green said without even looking in his general direction.  
  
"Thank you so much, Green, that's very sweet of you! I'll put it in the fridge." She brought her face closer to his and whispered: "And don't worry about being late. The important thing is that you're here."  
  
She winked at him and went to put the cake in the fridge.  
  
"So, you stopped at the bakery?", Red said with a wide grin as he walked to his friend's side. "Didn't take you for such a suck up."  
  
Green scoffed. "Please, Red, why would I suck up to your mom? What do you guys have that I don't?"  
  
Red almost said "Love and the approval of your grandpa". He was grateful beyond belief that Professor Oak cut him off before he could even start to go there.  
  
"A watch? A sense of time? _Manners?"_  
  
Green sighed. "As always, I feel so very loved and welcomed, how do you do it, gramps?"  
  
"What happened to your leg?", Oak asked, ignoring the jab.  
  
Red looked down only to realize that Green's right leg was slightly bent and his foot was unsurely and carefully hovering over the ground ever so slightly. It was shaking a little from the effort this took out of him. Usually he had both feet on the ground, legs apart in an asserting and dominant manner.  
  
When Green realized that all eyes were on him now, he put it off with a wave of his hand as if his grandfather had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Who cares about my _leg_? Do you see what Delia has _cooked_?"  
  
"I care," Professor Oak said without taking his eyes off of his grandson.  
  
Green squirmed under the piercing gaze until he finally relented: " _Fine,_ I tripped. Ya happy? I wasn't watching my steps and I fell over a damn twig."  
  
"Oh, dear! Come here, let me help you", Delia said and put a hand around Green's waist to support his weight, then she led him to one of the chairs. Red could see the obvious fight in Green's eyes and knew that everything inside him was urging him to yell "I can do it myself!", but to his surprise, he let it happen without any protest. "Did you see a doctor?"  
  
"'course I did. Just sprained my leg, nothing's broken. He prescribed me painkillers, but these damn things aren't working."  
  
Professor Oak sighed. "Why wouldn't you watch your steps, Green?"  
  
Green just shot him a deadly glare, and Red could almost hear his inner voice counting to ten.  
  
"We all have those kind of days, don't we?", Delia quickly said to lighten the mood. "Sit down, everyone."  
  
Red could tell Professor Oak wanted to say more, but kept his mouth shut for the sake of peace and quiet. He could also tell that he wasn't believing a single word Green said.  
  
And he found himself agreeing with him. Not only did his friend have a knive-sharp mind, he was also fleet-flooded and apprehensive. Watching him during battles had told him that much.  
  
It wasn't rare that trainers got hit by attacks during battles- even Red had gotten some serious injuries from a hydro pump once-, but in this case, Green was the superior one. He had never even gotten as much as a scratch. And now he tripped so hard that he sprained his leg? _On a twig?_ And he _admitted_ that? The Green he knew would have invented some incredible story about how he pulled a child out of a burning car and sprained his leg in the process or something.  
  
Now the possibility of the things that could have actually happened to Green almost pinched off his air supply. Automatically, his mind went back to the people in black and remembered that lots of them had loitered in front of the Gym. And Green had been so adamant about the fact that they weren't dangerous. And just like that, he had his friend figured out, and his worry turned into anger. If he was right, then Green was withholding vital information, which was endangering Red and everyone else around him.  
  
Delia put the two lasagnas on the table.

"This one's for Red, this one's ours."  
  
"Whoa, looks great!", Green said into the silence and Delia gave him a warm smile.  
  
"I hope it's still your favorite dinner."  
  
"I love it."  
  
"I've got to say, you make the best lasagna I ever tasted. Anywhere," Oak said.  
  
"Oh, you guys are exaggerating! But still, enjoy!"  
  
They all dug in, and while Red had to admit that Professor Oak was right and that this was indeed the best lasagna in the history of lasagnas, his eyes were fixated on Green, who was uncharacteristically silent for half of the dinner. Fifteen minutes had gone by and so far, Professor Oak and Delia had done all the talking, and occasionally Red when Oak adressed him, which was a lot.  
  
"When will you start picking up your Champion duties again?"  
  
"When will you tell the world you're back?"  
  
"Have you trained a lot while you were gone?"  
  
"How did you survive up there?"  
  
"Your son is one hell of a guy, Delia!"  
  
Green was completely focused on his meal the entire time and barely even looked up or pretended like he was listening to a single word. When they finally fell into a comfortable silence and Professor Oak seemed like he was done with his interrogation, he saw his chance.  
  
"How was the battle?", he asked.  
  
Green jumped a little, then acted innocent. "Huh?"  
  
"The Gym battle. Did you win?"  
  
"Pfft. Of _course_ I won, what'd you think?"  
  
Usually Green would have went into a long speech now about exactly how he had won and how awesome and smart and strong he was. Asking him about his battles was a 100% effective way to start a conversation with him. But now he just kept shoving food into his mouth and didn't say anything more except "Mmmmh, delicious!"  
  
"Tell me about it," Red said, slightly leaning forward while resting his arms on the table, and he swore, for a second, he practically saw the words _Oh crap_ light up in Green's eyes.  
  
"Since when do _you_ want to hear about that? You don't even listen to me half of the time."  
  
"I know, and I feel bad. We're friends, aren't we?" He gave Green a smile that was so fake that most politicians would have turned pale with envy.  
  
Green was getting considerably more nervous as he put his empty fork into his mouth again.  
  
"You do know you're eating air right now, right? Your plate is empty," Red informed him.  
  
"So what, maybe I like to lick my fork at the end of a meal, you don't know me!"  
  
"Obviously not."  
  
_"Girls!_ Arceus...", Delia spoke up. "What's going on with you two?"  
  
Red gave Green a grim look, but neither of them answered. He had figured Green out and Green knew he had been figured out.  
  
Delia looked inbetween them in confusion, and Professor Oak looked just as weirded out, but the two young men still didn't bother responding.  
  
Green was sulking like a five year old, arms folded over his chest and staring down at his plate like he was plotting its gruesome murder, Red was rubbing his stronger and stronger throbbing temples.  
  
Delia sighed. "You know what, guys? Let's watch a movie."  
  
Three pairs of eyes looked at her like she was crazy.  
  
"No, I'm serious! It's gonna be fun!"  
  
"But Delia, it's the middle of the day," Oak noted.  
  
"Ahh, who cares! Let's live life on the edge! As the young people tend to say today, yolo!"  
  
The expression made Red want to clean out his ears while Green doubled over with laughter and Professor Oak thought he was in a house full of lunatics.  
  
"I have no idea what that means or what's going on," Professor Oak said, "but I have lots of work to do, so..."  
  
"Stop it, you!", Delia scolded. " You're not going anywhere. I think it's safe to say that we've all went through a lot this week and the emotions are running high right now. We all deserve to put our feet on the tables and our minds to rest."  
  
Before anyone could protest, she had already gotten up and walked to the cabinet in the living room. Green looked horrified as she pulled an old VHS out that Red would have recognized anywhere.  
  
"They still have VHS tapes..." Red heard him whisper to no one in particular.  
  
"Red and I used to watch this together all the time when he was still a kid, it was kind of our thing. I watched it on the day he started his journey." She gave the tape a look filled with emotion. "I was scared and sad beyond belief on that day. And now I'd like to watch it again, knowing that he's back, and that all my loved ones are here with me. You wouldn't refuse a poor woman such a highly emotional and desperate wish, would you?"  
  
Red bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing when she actually started fluttering her eye lashes.  
  
The two Oak-men muttered something while Red was already getting up, and that was how it came that they all sat on the small couch tightly perched next to each other while Red's childhood movie was playing in front of them. He was still annoyed at Green, but he felt himself relax more, especially when he heard his rhythmic breathing and felt his warm arm pressed up against his side.  
  
He tried to stay mad, but when Green's laughter started filling the room, he was one hundred percent done with being upset, the tight feeling in his chest and stomach replaced with a pleasant fluttering sensation.  
Yes, he was too bribable, and yes, he should work on that, but not while Green was throwing his head back and slapping his upper thigh like Gordon running away from a Growlith in the movie was the funniest thing in film history.  
  
Red even caught Professor Oak dart a glance at Green with twitching mouth corners.  
  
He felt warmth spread in his chest at this. They were all enjoying themselves, and that meant so much to him. "Stand by me" was his definition of nostalgia. The first time he watched it was with his mom when he was six years old.  
  
He'd been sick that day and had to miss school, and his mom came into his room with a video tape and asked him if he wanted to watch it with her. At first he'd thought it was boring. But then the four protagonists, these four children, decided to leave their homes on their own and travel to a lake to find the corpse of a young boy who had been missing for a week. Red still remembered how he, despite his weakened state, had sat up on the couch with eyes as big as plates as new ideas were forming themselves in his head. "I want to do that!", he said with a croaking voice.  
  
His mother had given him a weird look.  
  
"What, sneaking away from home?"  
  
Of course not! Or did he? Red just knew that he wanted adventure. Wanted to be free. Free from everything. Just be his own boss, deciding where to go, and seeing and learning new things in the process, at a pace set by him and only him.  
From that point on, Stand by me became his favorite movie. He watched it every weekend, and his mom always watched it with him. It became a thing, it was their movie, and Delia, who wanted her son to be a critical thinker, always discussed it with him after it was over.  
  
"Do you think the boys were right to leave their homes without telling anyone?"  
  
"Of course!"  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Their parents are mean. They never would have let them leave. And they hit them. I hate them."  
  
"Hate is a strong word."  
  
"I strongly dislike them."  
  
"Better."  
  
They had talked about and analyzed every single scene, and the more Red thought and knew about it, the more it fascinated him. It was the reason he wanted to start his pokémon journey and try to become a Champion at ten, but his mother insisted he waited until he was at least twenty, like most people who go on their journey. He eventually managed to convince her to sign the letter of consent when he was sixteen, and other than Oak, she had been the only parent who allowed him. Either that, or he, other than Green, was the only sixteen year old kid who wanted to start his journey already.  
  
And it was Stand By Me that had started it all. Red almost teared up when he thought about how far he had come, about everything he had been going through, and about everyone he had met along the way. He caught himself looking at Green every now and then to make sure he was enjoying himself, and whenever he caught him completely lost in the fictional world, absent mindedly smiling at the screen, his heart did dangerous stunts in his chest.

At some point, Green suddenly looked back at him, and they both just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. It should have been awkward, but it wasn't because neither of them seemed to want to look away. For the first time, Red noticed that Green's eyes had some golden freckles mixed in the foresty green, and that his eye lashes were so long that ninety percent of the female population had to hate him for it. And Arceus, why did his skin look so unfairly smooth, and was it socially acceptable for him to touch it? Because he really wanted to touch it. The moment was ruined by a sudden loud ring that made everyone jump. Green looked away to rummage around in his pocket, fishing out his phone. The spell was broken, and Red hoped that whoever had the audacity to call Green right now better have a damn good reason for it.  
  
"Whoops. Sorry, gotta take this. It's the big boss himself." As if no one already understood who he was talking about, he made a point to shove the phone into Red's face and show him that the caller was Lance. Like Red needed another reason to _strongly dislike_ that guy.  
  
Green tapped on the screen and carefully stood up from the couch, his loud, sarcastic "Bonjour" drowning out the voices on the TV. After he had limped out of the room, Red suddenly became aware of the cold breeze that brushed his right arm where Green had sat a moment ago and he hoped his friend wouldn't be taking too long. He clicked on pause, annoyed at the interruption, and hoped Lance's house would get invaded by Beedrills.  
  
"Well, it seems like this is going to take longer," professor Oak said after a while from his seat. "May I use your bathroom?"  
  
"Of course, Sam," Delia smiled, and then her and her son were alone. Nostalgia punched her in the chest and stomach, and suddenly she ached for the time when Red was a kid again, before he had actually pulled a stunt like the boys in the movie and ran away from home. She looked at his face; it looked both relaxed and indifferent. Again she noticed how much he not just looked like a Champion, but an actual king.  
  
"Is the movie still as good as you remember it?", she asked.  
  
He shrugged. "Yeah."  
  
Delia laughed. "Don't 'yeah' me, young man. You're missing most of it because you keep staring at Green."  
  
He groaned. "This again?"  
  
"It's very important to you what he thinks of it, right?"  
  
"Mom."  
  
"Am I wrong?"  
  
He sighed. "He's my best friend. Of course it's important to me."  
  
"Jenny is my best friend and I don't give a damn if she likes my favorite movies or not."  
  
"Maybe you're just heartless then."  
  
She smacked his shoulder and he laughed. Oh, how she loved this idiot. How she missed his laugh. If she was honest, she hadn't heard it for longer than the three years he had been gone. She wanted to still be mad at him, but she'd do that later. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy having him back and seeing him happy for the first time in forever.  
  
They fell into comfortable silence, both still smiling and looking at the frozen screen where Gordon and Chris were walking side by side, having some deep conversation.  
  
From the hallway where Green was, they heard him say "Oh."  
  
Then a thank you and a goodbye. He didn't come back into the room immediately, and Red was growing impatient.  
  
After a while, professor Oak came back in, and almost at the same time, Green finally returned too.  
  
"Alright, can we continue?", Delia asked, but she didn't click play because Red was asking: "Green, are you okay?"  
  
She turned her head to look at Green and her gut turned into a knot with worry as she saw how pale his face was.  
  
Uncharacteristically silent, he had sat down on the couch like a robot, staring at nothing.  
  
"Green?" Professor Oak stood up and knelt down in front of his grandson to inspect his face and put a hand on his pulse. The gesture surprised and scared Red; if even Professor Oak was getting worried, something had to be very wrong.  
  
"Sweetie?", Delia now asked softly.  
  
Finally, Green found his voice again.  
  
"It was Lance," he said as if he hadn't made himself clear before.  
  
"What did he say?", Red asked, getting impatient.  
  
Green gulped.  
  
"My Gym is burning."  
  
_Oh._


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thank you so much again for your comments, and sorry for not updating for so long! This chapter is a little all over the place and there's LOTS of emotion, like... LOTS of it, and, a little 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: there's some anger induced self harm in the first part where they go see the burning Gym. 
> 
> I hope you'll still enjoy, even though there will be lots of drama in this and Green is a massive idiot in this chapter and I kind of want to slap him myself, I'm sorry lol

Red went to bed with a migraine and a rattling cough that night. But it was okay, he guessed; he wouldn't have gotten much sleep anyway because an exhausted Green was taking up most of his already too-small bed, lying on his stomach with his limbs stretched in every direction and snoring like a sailor. After the initial shock, they had wasted no time flying to the Gym, where the firefighters were already in full action. The humans tried to extinguish the fire with their hoses while their water pokémon repeatedly used their surf attacks and hydro pumps. But the fire was still as tall thick as a wall, and black hot smoke was engulfing the area.  
  
The Gym itself was already unrecognizable, a mere skeleton with planks of wood falling down here and there. Gleaming ashes made it look like it was accusingly glaring at all the bystanders because they hadn't been able to save it in time. It felt like a punch to the gut to see the once impressive building like this. So many memories had been made there. First the field trips when he was still in school, then the first real Gym battle he got to witness in there, then his own battle against Giovanni...

Green had desperately called out blastoise and gyrados, but one of the firefighters, a small corpulent woman in her late forties with a tired and worn out face, told them with an almost bored voice to stay back. In that moment, Red remembered that he had forgotten to put on his disguise, but the setting of the sun and the smoke probably made him unrecognizable anyway.

"I'm the Gym Leader here!", Green yelled with frantic hand gestures, but she wasn't impressed.

"I know. Listen, kid, unless you're the Champion, I can't let you through. Please stay back and let professionals handle this."

He made one more attempt to get past her, but she roughly put her hand on his chest and shoved him away with an impressive strength.

Her voice didn't sound bored anymore when she loudly said: _"And if you don't, I'll be happy to call the authorities. Got it?"_

Green looked like he was ready to take his chance, so Red quickly chimed in: "Got it, got it!"

And so all they could do was watch while the building slowly but surely imploded. Green's arms were shaking, he was breathing hard and his face was redder than a tomato. Red was actually scared he'd have a stroke or something. Green's Ace Trainers had arrived a few minutes after that, staring at the scene with horrified eyes.

 _"_ What happened here?! _"_ , a girl with brown hair and a red training suit shrieked.

 _"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED?!"_ , Green roared at them, and everyone except Red, who had already witnessed Green's little moods before, flinched. _"I don't know, how about_ you _tell_ me! You _guys were the last ones to leave the Gym!"_

"Green, I promise, we made sure every door was locked and all electric appliances were unplugged," a young woman calmly spoke up. She had her dark blue hair in a bun and wore a red training jacket, just like the other girl. "And the oven in the lunch room was turned off too!"

"Then what is _this?!"_ Green wildly gestured towards the Gym. It would have almost been comical if it wasn't so tragic. 

Red could see that every single muscle in his body was tense, and his hands were helplessly wrestling the air. He was scared Green might accidentally hurt himself even more with his sprained leg, so he swiftly grabbed his shoulders and gently pulled him away from the little crowd.

"Green, buddy, calm down," he said softly while stroking his upper arms in an attempt to cool him off a bit, but the smaller man struggled in his hold and managed to draw back.

The woman with the blue hair only just now took notice of Red. She frowned as she looked at him more closely.

"Are you...?"

"Jack. A friend of Green."

"I WANT TO KNOW WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!", Green interrupted their introduction and stomped his foot. His bad one. Groaning, he sank to the ground into a crouching position with his sprained leg stretched out in front of him. His arms were folded in front of his chest; it looked like he was hugging himself, but then Red realized that he was actually digging his nails into his underarm so vigorously that he was already drawing blood, and instead of putting his hand away at the realization of that, he slowly ran it down the entire length of his arm, leaving ugly white marks.

Everyone immediately ran to his side, but he slapped their hands away like they were pesky flies.

WIth a nod of his head, Red signified that it was better they left him alone for now. The woman with the blue hair nodded understandingly and rushed the rest of the rather unwilling looking group away.

Green was already at it again with bludgeoning his arm, this time violently pinching, twisting and tugging on it with four of his fingers, turning the skin red.

Red felt too shocked to do anything but stare for a moment before he firmly grabbed his friend's wrist and moved it away from the already sore skin. It suddenly occured to him how thin and fragile Green's arm looked in his hand.

He didn't let go even when Green started cursing, first in Kantonian, then, when he ran out of Kantonian curse words, in Kalosian and later in other languages Red had never even heard of until he ended the spate of words with an exhausted "....verfickter verdreckter Scheißdreck! _Blöde Dreckssaubande!"_

He just sat next to him the entire time, one arm over his shoulder, holding him tightly, while the other hand helt his wrist. His friend's rapid pulse was hammering against his fingers. He felt helpless, wanted nothing more than just for Green to stop, who was still trying to free his hand the entire time and snuck a few _"Let me the fuck go"_ into his string of curse words.

When he was finally done, breathing hard and looking to the ground, he didn't dare look at Red anymore, and the only thing he got out with his now hoarse voice was "...sorry."

Red didn't reply, just squeezed his upper arm and rubbed his hand over it a few times before letting go. It was only then that he realized his own hands were shaking and his entire ribcage felt so narrow that breathing became hard.  
He wasn't sure if it was because of Green's outburst or because of the painful cough that escaped him, but looking at his battered friend, he realized that at least over half of it was because of him, and he felt another wave of sympathy and hurt wash over him. Green, he knew, didn't think too highly of himself despite his bravado. It was no secret. He had worked so, so hard to become the Champion of the Pokémon League, just so he would finally be someone to be proud of, and then Red had taken it away from him. Something he didn't feel guilty over, but he understood why it had upset his friend so greatly. After this setback, he had worked harder than ever, until he got the most desired and honored spot as the Viridian Gym Leader. He had worked day and night to give this Gym its good reputation back. He had worked himself up from the very bottom, his former loss at the League completely forgotten. The Gym had been the single greatest thing he had ever accomplished. Literal blood, sweat and tears had went into it. It had been kind of symbolic, in a way, a reincarnation of Green's being, and his _well_ being. And now all of it was up in flames and there was nothing either of them could do but watch.

Red had tried to convince Green to go home because he really didn't think it was helpful for him to see this, but the other man refused to move an inch away from the scene.  
It took long until the fire was put out. They had arrived here at five PM, and now it was three in the morning. Red was no expert, but he was sure a fire shouldn't burn that long when there were twenty firefighters and double the amount of water pokémon. 

When it was finally over, the only thing that was left of the Gym was a heap of ashes. Sometime inbetween, the ambulance and the police had arrived, and when Green stayed pretty much unresponsive even after the fire was put out, Red ushered him towards one of the paramedics, who shone a light into his eyes, felt his pulse, gave him a glass of water and put a blanket around his shoulders. They were afraid he had went into shock, but after a few minutes of staring into space, Green said in the smallest voice Red had ever heard of him: "Let's go home."

The police agreed they'd question him tomorrow when he was in better shape.

It was four AM when they finally arrived back in Pallet Town. Red hadn't even asked Green if he wanted to stay at his place for the night, he had just taken one look at his bruised arm and dragged him towards it without a word. 

It was a relief for him when Green practically fell into bed and was out like a light in a matter of seconds. He hoped his friend had nice dreams. After trying to navigate his way around Green's outstretched arms and legs, he sighed and gave up. It was already early in the morning anyway, and another painful cough that felt like someone was slicing at his throat with a butcher knive told him he wouldn't have slept tonight even without Green here.  
He took the time to inspect his friend's face. His expression was, as expected, not peaceful. His forehead was scrunched up and his eyes tightly closed shut, his lips pressed into a thin line. The snoring sounds coming from his nose were irregular and flat. 

The scratches on his arm were standing out on the pale skin, red and furious, and three yellow-brownish little bruises were starting to form. By themselves and with closer inspection, the scratches and bruises didn't look too bad, but mixed together and with only a fleeting look to spare, it looked terrifying.

Red suddenly felt like crying, or running away. It was painful enough to see his friend like this, but the circumstances surrounding it all made it even worse. Red _knew_ who had done this. And he  _knew_ what they were going to do once they found him. It sent hot shivers down his spine and gripped his heart with ice cold fingers just to think of it, the flashbacks of what he had experienced in the Silph Co. building already waiting to jump at him and pull him down into a world of spiraling darkness he couldn't escape from, and knowing his assumptions were most likely correct didn't do much to calm his nerves. A sudden thought hit him, and despite not wanting to disturb Green, he lightly shook him, because his question was more urgent.

"Green! Green, wake up!"

The snoring was replaced with a long inhale and Green lazily opened one eye. "Hm....?"

Red didn't waste any time. "How long do you usually stay in the Gym?"

"What...?", Green mumbled, still not entirely there.

"How long do you usually work? When do you leave and go home?"

Green yawned and then gave an unpleased grunt. "Depends. Usually 10 PM." His last words were already an almost inaudible sigh. He turned away from Red again, and not even a minute later the snoring picked up where it had left off.

Red had gone very still beside Green, frozen like a statue, and frozen he felt at his realization.

If Green usually worked until late at night in the Gym and the people in black had lingered around long enough to know this...

...then they had set the Gym on fire expecting Green to still be in there.

Red let himself fall back on his bed, not minding the fact that he was crushing his friend's arm or the little grunt that escaped him, and out of the mix of crazy emotions he was feeling right now, he flung an arm around Green's middle, pressing him closer and suddenly feeling calmed by the snoring. Right now, he knew, he wouldn't be able to bear his friend being silent and unmoving beside him, because that would lead to thoughts he didn't dare thinking even if he depended on it.

* * *

At eight AM, Red decided to get up. He knew Green was safe, but he still didn't feel comfortable letting him out of sight, and so he had stayed in bed for four hours, wide awake, listening to Green's loud snoring- really, that guy should see a doctor-, and reminding himself that pondering _What ifs_ wasn't useful. But then, his mind went back to dark places he hadn't visited for a while now, where he heard his old teacher's hard voice, mercilessly ordering his pokémon to kill him.

Right now, Red felt like he would never ever be calm again. Kanto was in danger. He was in danger. And worst of all, his mom, Daisy, all the other Gym Leaders he had befriended back on his travels, and _Green_ were in danger.  
Red didn't know if he was strong enough to live through what he had experienced in Saffron City a second time. He honestly had no idea. The thought of it activated his _fight or flight_ reflex, although right now, it was more flight than fight.  
He suddenly wished- and he knew what a selfish thought that was- that he hadn't left Mt. Silver. Up there, he wouldn't have had any idea what was going on here. He would have continued living his life, training every day, living for no one but himself and his team. And in that moment, he became irrationally angry at the sleeping bundle next to him because he was the one who had lured him down from there, and his arm around him tightened a little more than it needed to. The anger was followed by guilt, then by dread. 

If Green hadn't convinced Red to come down, then there would have been no dinner from his mom yesterday. No movie. She would have been vigorously cleaning the house instead of preparing the food, while Green would have been burying himself elbow deep in his work instead of eating her delicious lasagna. Maybe he would even have fallen asleep at his desk again, not even noticing the billows of smoke slowly making their way up to his office, engulfing the room and waking him up with a sharp cough, and once he realized what was going on, it was already too late, and despite his best efforts, he eventually perished in the flames, and-

Red gasped, realizing he hadn't been breathing, and becoming aware of the lump in his throat and the tears in his eyes. If Green hadn't lured Red down, he might have been dead now. And Red wouldn't even have known. He would have assumed his friend had enough of visiting him up there, and that was that.

While hearing Green's snoring had been comforting to him through the early morning hours, now Red suddenly realized that it was mortifying him, because it reminded him how close it had been, how many coincidences had been needed to avoid Green's painful death in the wall of flames.

Red got up from his bed so fast he felt dizzy for a moment, and another cough rattled his chest. It was a loud one, but Green didn't even stir. A brass band could probably march through the room right now and Green would just open one eye again like last night, say "Huh" and go back to sleep. Sometimes he had phases like that, where no one and nothing could wake him up, usually when he was very exhausted. In a calmer state, Red would have found that endearing, but right now, everything was putting him on edge, everything was making him so, so angry.

The fact that Green didn't wake up made him want to yell at him: "What if someone breaks into your house? What then? I already did it once, anyone with a flying type can do it too!"

He let his gaze linger on Green for a moment longer, debating whether he was feeling anxiety, guilt, anger or affection, and after deciding he was feeling all four of them at once, he tore his eyes away. It was all too overwhelming and he couldn't bear it anymore even if he wanted to.

When he went downstairs, his mom was sitting at the table, clothed in her blue bathrobe, hair disheveled and dark shadows under her eyes. A cup of tea was placed in front of her, and she held it in a death grip with both hands, but the absence of steam told him it was cold already. 

She didn't notice him at first, only when he said "Good morning" she turned her head to look at him and tried a smile. 

Red wondered if she'd had the same thoughts as him. 

"Why are you awake already, dear? You should go back to bed, you had a long night," she said with a thin voice, but Red shook his head. 

"Exactly. No way I could have slept. I don't know how Green does it."

She nodded in agreement and Red didn't need to ask to know that she hadn't slept either. Of course not; he had heard her quiet footsteps when he and Green had come home. She had waited upstairs, not wanting to overwhelm her boys and pry when they came back, but feeling the urgent need to see them before she went to back to bed, just to be sure they were physically fine and didn't need her help. Red sat down at the table next to her and stared at his fidgeting, sweaty hands while at the same time not really staring at anything. Neither of them was speaking and yet they understood each other, both painfully aware of what they could have lost if it wasn't for the dinner yesterday.

Suddenly Delia spoke up with a shaky voice, her eyes suddenly looking suspiciously red-rimmed and wet: "I'm so glad it was just the Gym, Red."

It was then that Red broke down, first slowly, with only a sob disguised as a shaky, long exhale through the nose escaping him, the young man still trying to hold back, but knowing his efforts were futile when his face was scrunching up and his nose was tingling and his eyes were overflowing. Then it all came out at once and he had to bury his head in his arms as he sobbed uncontrollably, only interrupted by the occasional cough that was triggered by the crying.  
He felt his mom's arms around him, and she was shaken by soft sobs aswell. He eventually gave into her hug, lifting his head from his arms and hugging her back.

They both had a deja vu at that moment, remembering the night Delia had to tell her son that daddy wasn't coming home, and that somehow made it better because unlike Angus Tajiri, Green was still here.

They stayed like this for quite some time, even after the sobbing had subsided and was replaced by occasional sniffles, until they heard a thud coming from Red's room, followed by Green's indignant _"Oh, goddamnit!",_ and then they both laughed despite themselves, still shaken and teary eyed, but calmer than they had been moments before. Red felt like he needed to be strong for Green and Delia felt like she needed to be strong for both of her boys, so they let go of each other and wiped off their tears, smiling warmly and without effort when they heard Green walk downstairs rather ungracefully with his useless leg.

When he came into view, Red noticed he had pulled his right sleeve down to hide the ugly marks he had left on himself, but decided not to comment on it.

Green frowned. "Have you guys been crying?"

Delia didn't answer his question, just got up from her seat and pulled the young man into a tight, warm hug. "Come here for a second, sweetheart," she cooed, unwilling to let go. The room reeked of smoke, being that neither Red nor Green had changed the clothes they had worn last night. A horrible reminder of the events in Viridian City. Now that the shock had went away, she felt fury brooding inside of her, because how dare anyone try to harm Green!

After Red got hurt back in the day, she had done four things: vomited, screamed, went through shock, and wished actual death upon the people who had done this to her son.  
Last night, after the realization hit of what could have happened if Green had been in that Gym, she had done two of those. She'd hastily ran into the bathroom, and now she found herself have murder fantasies.

She tried to contain them while she clung to Green for dear life, wanting to relish the fact that he was here and he was unharmed.

"Alright, alright, stop it, I'm fine!", Green protested. He was quite confused when that earned him a murderous glare from both Tajiris.

"I _mean_ it!", he complained, and to his surprise, Red found that he believed him. That Green wasn't just putting on a mask, and that he truly, actually was fine. Which only made Red's frown deeper.

"How can you possibly be fine?", he asked, exasperated. "You were a _mess_ yesterday! Hell, _I_ was a mess just a few minutes ago and it wasn't even my Gym!"

"Well, I've been thinking..."

"Yeah?"

"...it _was_ devastating to see all my hard work go up in flames yesterday, and yes, I felt like I was dying a million deaths, but honestly, this old house had too much history attached to it. Like, sure, people knew who I was and who the Gym belonged to, but it was still only ever 'Giovanni's old Gym', never 'Green's Gym'. It always bugged me. And I had a very pleasant dream just now of building my own Gym, making it my own thing, ya feel? It doesn't even have to be in Viridian! Maybe, I don't know, Lavender Town or something. Or why not Pallet? So I guess I can see that as a new beginning now. Build a new Gym. Make it a palace or something. Something that will make my challengers quiver with fear. Maybe...maybe this is a good thing even. It's all just a matter of perspective. So anyway, that tea smells delicious, Delia, can I have some of it too?"

Delia and Red both stared at Green in disbelief, astounded and exasperated , as he casually let himself fall on the chair as though nothing had happened.

"Green." Red started, trying to keep his voice calm. "Do you...do you _realize_ that what happened yesterday could be attempted assassination?"

At that, Green did freeze and had the decency to look shocked. "You think so...?"

"I mean, it's not unlikely. Your Ace Trainers said they checked everything and locked the door, and a Gym doesn't just randomly burst into flames."

"I did fight with arcanine yesterday," Green pondered.

Red huffed. "Yeah, and I'm sure _that's_ what made the Gym light up in flames five hours later!" He suddenly had an epiphany, and judging by the sudden fear in Green's eyes as he saw Red's expression, he knew that his friend knew exactly what it was.  
"Who did you battle yesterday?"

Green looked at his hands, obviously contemplating pulling up his sleeve so he had something to do, then thinking better of it as he remembered why his sleeve was down in the first place. Red was starting to lose his patience yet again. "Green, this is important! You could have _died_ , do you realize that? It took hours to put that fire out! If you had been in there..." he paused, didn't want to think of this _What if_ anymore or else he would lose it.

"Please, Green," Delia said. "Red is right, we could have lost you. You were lucky you were at the right place at the right time yesterday, but that was only a coincidence."

Green sighed and covered his face with his hands, finally giving in. "Some guy in his thirties or something."

"What was he wearing?", Red prompted.

"I don't think he would have been your type..."

"Green."

"Fine. Black clothes, is that what you wanted to hear?"

Red stared at his friend with such horror that it was almost comical, but he tried to contain his anger. "Did he do that to your foot?", he asked, dangerously calm, his voice full of suppressed rage.

"No."

 _"Green,_ for Arceus' sake, spit it out already!", Red said, his voice getting louder. Later he'd feel bad about getting so cross with Green after such a traumatic event, but _come on!_ It was like he was dealing with a five year old right now.

Green crossed his arms in front of his chest, an indignant expression on his face as he looked anywhere but in Red's and Delia's general direction. For a second, Red thought he was going to stay silent out of spite, but then he said with a very, very small voice: "He might have."

"What do you mean, 'he might have'?"

Green sighed, now pretty angry himself. "I don't know if it was him, is what I mean! Could have just been a psychic pokémon lurking in a corner or something!"

"What are you even talking about?"

"Well..." Green seemed to have accepted his fate and finally opened up. "The challenger got cocky and rude, so I got a tiny bit upset. And next thing I know I'm floating headfirst over the ground. No idea how he did that, but it happened. It was like an invisible force or something pulling me up. And it let me back down to the ground rather... ruggedly. That's when I hurt my ankle."

There was silence for a few moments that felt far too long. Then: "Alright, I give up." Red sighed and threw his hands in the air. "Forget I asked! If you're gonna act like a child, there's no point. The important thing is: the guy was at your Gym, you guys argued, and at the same time you hurt your ankle?"

Green rolled his eyes, not even bothering trying to tell Red that he had actually told the truth. "Yes."

Red paused for a long moment, looking like he was at a loss for words, until he finally pressed out: "Then _why_ haven't you said so _yesterday?_ Why did you tell us you fell over a twig? A freaking _twig,_ Green!"

"Because I knew you'd freak out and panic over nothing! And you'd see it as proof that Team Rocket returned, or whatever!", Green snapped back.

"Oh, _shouldn't_ I? I swear to god, Green, a Team Rocket member could be walking right into this house with a fat red R on their chest and you'd still deny it! You got physically attacked! Your _Gym_ is burning! And you're seriously still denying that something is wrong? Really, Green?"

"I just don't want you to start obsessing over something that isn't real!" Green raised his voice too now.

"You don't want me to obsess about things? Things that aren't real, huh? Let me show you something." Red pulled the collar of his shirt down, exposing his shoulder and thus, exposing the big ugly scar. He felt a bit smug when he saw Green wince.  
"Well, guess what,  _this is real._ This is something that _actually_ happened. I still have nightmares sometimes. I'm still horrified that they might come back some day and hurt me again, or worse, hurt people I care about, which obviously already seemed to have happened! And here you are, having the audacity to tell me I'm 'obsessing over things that aren't real'? And withholding information like that? You know what, you can be a self righteous prick sometimes, Green!"

For a moment, Green looked guilty, but then the fight came back to his face with force. "Why are you even so sure that it was Team Rocket who did this? It could also just be some losers looking for attention!"

"Well, because these guys are wearing uniforms that look almost identical to Team Rocket's! And they're operating in ways very similar to the Team Rocket I supposedly destroyed back in the day, _and_ there's even rumors going around that they're back. Which, by the way, I still can't believe you didn't tell me about all this time you came to visit me."

"And now you see why I didn't!"

"So you seriously don't think anything is wrong?"

 _"Yes,"_ Green insisted, even though it was more out of spite than actual belief.

"Green, you...you're delusional," Red said, sounding bewildered at his own statement, and Green felt a mix between anger and worry at the fact that he'd been called delusional twice in two consecutive days already.

Delia looked from her son to Green and back, confused at how quickly the relief over Green being unharmed had turned into a full blown argument, when suddenly the door bell rang.  
The two guys, who had been glaring at each other moments ago, looked up while Delia was making her way to the door. She expected Professor Oak, but to her dismay, it was someone entirely else.

The door wasn't even all the way open when the guest already stormed towards her and enveloped her into a back breaking hug.

"Oh, Delia!", the hated voice sobbed. "It's so terrible! So, so terrible! My poor baby! Where is he, where's my son, I need to see him!"

In the dining room, Red very slowly averted his gaze from the door to fixate on Green, who was busy wondering why Delia didn't seem surprised at this visit.

He gulped when he noticed the look Red was giving him and licked his lips nervously. "Oh yeah, so, uh, about that..."

But Red, making a sound that could only be described as disbelieving frustration, didn't seem to want to hear it, turning on his heel and making his way back upstairs.  
All Green could think was that this guy sure knew how to make a dramatic exit. The door slam was a nice touch, too. It made him jump a little, a deep pit forming in his stomach, knowing he'd just possibly ruined his friendship with Red, the best and most precious thing he'd had in his life.

At the door, he heard Delia calm Liz down and assuring her that he was fine. He hid a little more behind the half-wall that sheltered the dining room from the living room.

"Where is he? I want to see him!", Liz said, her voice a little shaky.

"Well, he spent the night here, but I can imagine he doesn't want to see anyone right now..."

Liz sighed dramatically. "So he's all by himself? Oh my... The poor boy shouldn't be on his own right now. Please tell me where he is."

Delia fumbled for an answer, and Green couldn't watch it anymore. He felt bad enough as it was, he didn't also want to be the one to put Delia in a position like this where she had to decide whether she should respect Green's desperate wishes to not see her or respect a worried mother's wishes to make sure her kid was okay. Also, maybe it couldn't hurt to let a different kind of bad distract him, so he walked out from behind the wall. 

"For Arceus' sake, I'm here," he announced, making a show of how _not_ happy he was to see her. "And I'm _fine."_

Liz let out a relieved little sob that couldn't sound any more dramatic if she tried and ran towards him to throw herself around his neck. Then she proceeded to give him about a hundred kisses on his cheek.

He tried to draw back, but that woman, although smaller than him now, had a death grip.

"Oh, I'm so happy to see you!", she cried out, rubbing his back with both her hands and totally ignoring the fact that he wasn't hugging her back.

 _"_ Liz." They both looked to Delia, who was giving the other woman a _We talked about this_ look, and to his own surprise, Green felt touched. Delia had talked to Liz. She had taken a stand for Green, and now she was doing it again, and he couldn't help but feel very warm and relaxed at that thought despite everything else. Although he did still wonder since when Delia knew Liz was back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but can you blame me?", Liz whined. "I'm just so _happy_ that he's okay and he's so huggable and-"

_"Liz."_

She sighed sadly before finally releasing Green. _"Fine._ What world we're living in, where a mother can't hug her own son anymore."

Green had a bunch of answers for that, but decided not to say any of them. Same with Delia, whose face looked suspiciously red.

He took a deep breath and both women looked at him expectantly, waiting for his answer, but he had just taken the breath to noisily exhale it again. Then he said, matter of factly: "I'm going for a walk."

"You want to leave already?!", Liz wailed. "Baby, you really shouldn't be alone in a time like this!"

"Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do," Green snapped and searched for Delia's supportive gaze, his expression falling when he saw that she didn't look supportive anymore, but contrite.

"Green, honey... I have to agree with her there, I'm sorry. I don't think you should be alone right now. At least not outside. If someone really tried to hurt you with that fire yesterday..."

"Why is everyone so _paranoid?",_ he snapped, and now Delia looked upset. Green could really see where Red got it from. She was him in female form.

"Don't tell a mother who lost her child for three years she's paranoid, Green," she calmly said, and Green really had to admire is talent to put his foot in his mouth today. It was really no wonder he was so lonely.

Delia's expression, supportive and loving moments ago, now pained and accusing, was the best proof for that. And Red stomping his way upstairs. His stomach churned and suddenly he felt sick. The last straw that broke the camel's back was the memory of his Gym that suddenly popped up in his head out of nowhere, and maybe he wasn't as okay with it as he had let on, because now he suddenly felt like crying, getting defensive and running away all at once.

Especially when he saw the way the two women looked at him now, suddenly on the same team against him, two mothers in silent solidarity. He couldn't bear it.

"'scuse me," he mumbled before pushing past his excuse of a mother and limping right out of the house.

"Green!", he heard Delia call after him. "Green, for Arceus' sake, do you at least have your pokémon with you, _Green!"_

He wasn't sure, but he was positive he didn't, and that was fine, because this was Pallet, and nothing ever happened in Pallet.

Idly, he wondered if Melissa and Red had been right when they called him delusional.

 

 


	10. Read Chapter 9, that's the new one

[Hello, this story has a new Chapter now which is Chapter 9. I posted it on Monday, but the story still hasn't shown up on the front page and the update date was still set to September, that's why I'm posting this, don't mind me. Hope you enjoy chapter 9!]


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